When Fire meet Swords
by BattleRoyale13
Summary: When you commit yourself to a dream, then you are surely going to meet resistance, challenges and obstacles. For Shirou Emiya, that challenge happened to be in the form of his twin brother Kurou Kotomine. This is their story on how they first meet before the 5th Holy Grail War. It tells their aspirations, motivations and dreams that shaped them into going to opposite directions.
1. When Fire and Swords are Born

Attention: I don't own any of Type-moon's work. I only own some of the OCs and the ideas I put in writing. This is my first ever fanfict that I've written, so positive criticism is much appreciated.

….

Once upon a time, a professor came into the classroom and started cursing God. He cursed God for the creation of Wars, for the creation of death, for the creation of hate and for the creation of any other evil act that has befell this world.

'Why?' He asked. Why must God create evil? Why can't he be contempt with creating peace? To create a world without war, without death, without anyone having to feel pain. Why must God create a world where opposites exist? Wouldn't it be better if there was only one way for the world to revolve around which was peaceful and without hate.

The professor continued cursing God and said that if God really did exist, He's a bad one and doesn't deserve his prayers or worship.

One of the students, a boy with white-to-rust uncombed hair, listening to this then raised his hand to speak. He sounded calm, resolute and cool even while the professor was furiously talking in front of the class.

"Sir, what do you call the opposite of hot?"

The professor was struck surprised by the question; clearly he thought it was out of the context he was talking about.

"I assume it would be cold," the professor answered, not minding where this conversation would take him.

"Wrong, Sir," the boy said with a loud clear voice. The professor quirk up and gave the student an attentive stare, not believing what he just heard. The boy then continued with a serious tone, directing it to the whole class.

"Cold is a term we give to the absence of heat"

"There never existed cold to begin with, we can have hot, super-hot and burning hot but we could never have super cold or more cold, it's only less hot," the student continued.

The professor was dumbfounded by the statement of the student. He tried waving his hand to order his student to sit down, not being amused by the situation he was in.

"What is the opposite of light Sir?" the student continued. The professor looked at the student again, silent, thinking of the answer maybe.

"Its darkness, right?" another student answered.

"Wrong, my friend," the young boy said. The classroom was in silence as he took a deep breath, intently trying to listen to what the boy had to say.

"Darkness is a term we give to define the absence of light, we could have bright light, flickering light, intense light, but we can only have one darkness,"

The class was silent in thought, the words of the young boy in their minds.

"What…. What are you trying to prove here!?" The professor asked. His voice was a bit stuttering, as if not understanding how he is being played by a small boy.

"What I'm saying, sir, is that your perception of reality and the existence of opposites is wrong, so very wrong," the teacher's face turned bright red in anger at the statement of the young student.

"We cannot assume that this world works concepts in parallel to one another. We can't say that we would deny one part of concept without acknowledging or accepting that there exist another concept parallel to it."

"Each concept can only be defined with its partner: Good and Evil, Hate and Love, Justice and Vengeance, Order and Chaos, Life and Death. To say that one should not exist means the other can't as well."

"Then what… are you trying to tell me to just accept death? Accept that the world is filled with evil and that people are all corrupted and that the world could go into all chaos!?" the teacher was furious, what in the world was this student trying to imply, he would have to have a word with this young boy's parents about what he learnt back at home.

"Yes, yes I am," the young boy said with a calm voice, not even once wavering over the anger his teacher was giving off.

"Because my parents thought me that in order to uphold justice, I would have to empathize vengeance, to bring order I would have to understand chaos, to be loved, I would have to sometimes feel hate and to really celebrate and enjoy life, I would have to accept that one day, everyone, you, me, everyone I ever knew and everyone I ever cared about will die."

"The only thing that really matters in life is whether or not I am at harmony with the two, and most importantly what decisions I make when in conflict with the two."

"That," he stress his words, "That is what makes something good or evil; it's the choices we make in life, not whether there exist good or evil or whether we were forced into becoming good or evil."

"And that is why you are wrong, sir."

The professor was dumbstruck by the sudden lecture on his philosophy, by one of his students nonetheless. He wanted to say something that would bring back his name and honor and to show this boy who was supposed to be the professor and who was supposed to be the student in his classroom.

"Sir I'm assuming you don't believe in stupidity, but by that logic how am I supposed to compare you for becoming intelligent? By your philosophy your intelligence does not exist and I might as well be speaking to a rock,"

The whole class burst into laughter at that statement.

"QUIET!" the professor shouted, anger filling his voice.

"Who…Who do you think you are to come here and lecture me!? Tell me your name and I swear I'll give you hell for coming into my class for speaking to me like that!"

The young boy looked up at his professor and gave him a pure smile, it didn't showed any hard-feelings or hatred or fear, it was pure acceptance.

And then the boy spoke with resolute and confidence that was beyond his age:

"My name is..."

…

**Chapter 1: When Fire and Swords are Born **

**May 1994.**

...Fuyuki City….

There was fire everywhere. Whole neighborhoods were demolished, destroyed and burned to the ground. People were screaming, shouting, wailing for help wherever it may be from. Anyone who saw the destruction that day would have surely agreed that this was hell on earth.

Among the fires, a small boy with red hair and golden eyes was weeping in anguish at the bad omen that has befallen upon him. His small hands tried effortlessly to raise a wooden plank that fell due to the fire. Under the wooden plank was a woman. Her feet was crushed under the structure that has collapsed after the explosion. Walls were ripped opened. The streets were filled with fire, blood and debris.

"Leave me Kurou!"

"Leave me here and take your brother with you!"

Tears streamed down the woman's face as she tries to shove her son away.

"Kurou! Kurou! KUROU!" another boy with red hair shouted. Said boy looked almost identical to the other. He was tugging his brother's arm trying to make him follow what their mother ordered them.

"We…. we… we have to leave Kurou! We'll die here if we stay any longer!" the last statement the boy said sounded like defeat. In his mind he didn't knew what to do. He was scared, afraid and terrified with what has happened. He wasn't a hero, he knew it. He didn't had any super powers like what they showed on television. If only he could….. If only he had the power. But he didn't had anything special. No special abilities to create rain or to control fire or to shoot laser beams. He wasn't any of that, and it felt pathetic. And so, there was only one thing he could do: save himself and run.

"AND LEAVE MOTHER!" the other boy shouted in anguish. He was clearly angry at the other boy for stating such an idea, as if it has never crossed his mind, as if the idea itself was taboo in his dictionary.

How could they? This was their mother. Without even knowing how to get out of this hellfire, how could his brother even be so selfish? What was life without those that loved you most if it was only you alive and the rest are dead?

The boy continued to try to lift the plank as hard as he can. He didn't care if he had the strength or not or whether they would be consumed by the fire, he just wanted to save his mother. He started weeping more and more, the plank was too heavy and he was too small, no amount of strength or effort he did was going to rescue them. It seemed as if they were all going to die here and now.

The brother seeing how futile his brother's efforts were did the only thing he could in this hellhole. He gripped his brother's arm and pulled with all his might away from the collapsed structure, away from their once-home, away from their mother.

"What are you DOING?!" "What are you doing this?!" "We can't leave mother behind!"

Their mother saw as her sons left. She cried as she was left to her demise. But at least….. At least they would be safe. She died with a smile on her face, contempt with what life had given her.

The boy that was being pulled tried to yank his brother's grip. Punching, yanking and sobbing at the same time. But he wouldn't loosen his hold no matter what. He pulled his brother away from the structure, from their destroyed house and on to the road.

"No… NO… NO!" the boy wept, he wasn't frustrated with himself. He was angry, angry at his brother for doing this to him. How could his brother do this to him!? How could they leave there mother to die!?

"Why!?" "WHY!?" "WHY did you left her! We could have saved her!"

As they reached the roadside, the boy continued to wept and punch his brother. The other brother, no matter what did not budge. He couldn't look back, he couldn't allow himself to stop here, he couldn't give up now, because if he did, he would betray his mother. The guilt he felt for leaving his mother and escaping along with his brother was deep. But the fear of dying, the fear of seeing more dead bodies, the fear of going through hell was far way stronger. And so he pressed forward, gripping on the arm of his brother, not caring whether he was bruised or hurt or tired, he would get them both out or else… or else….. He would never forgive himself for betraying what his mother ordered him to do. The very least he needed to get them both out… ALIVE.

Suddenly, there vision was filled by the ignition of fire and the sound of destruction. The gas pipes in their house exploded, the explosion sent debris, planks and other materials flying. The brothers were caught in the explosion, a broken wooden plank slammed at the duo knocking them both out and sending both of them thrown towards opposite ends.

He failed. Those were the last thoughts of the brother before he was sent catapulting to the other end. His head hit a broken telephone pole, knocking him unconscious.

The other boy was sent flying to the center where the fire and the initial explosion happened. He laid on the ground in the center of a crater of some kind of explosion, defeated, tired but mostly angry. The boy looked above. The sky above him was filled with a crimson blob that seemed like it was filled to the fullest that it would explode any moment.

'This was it' he thought. Whatever it was, whatever corrupted, veil, evil being did this to him and his family was right on top of him. His expression turned from fear to hate. He wanted to destroy it. Destroy it all and let nothing survive. He wanted the power to destroy all evil. To destroy all that would trample on him. He hated them all. He wanted them all to. BURN.

The dark crimson blob exploded, spilling all of its contents on to the boy that laid in the center of the crater. Angra Mainyu heard the wish of the boy and answered as it appropriately saw fit.

The last screams of the boy was filled with hate, anger and wrath towards all that was evil. He never felt so much hatred for something in his whole life. His body was submerged in the dark crimson liquid.

Another explosion happened filled with crimson light followed by winds that extinguished the initial fire leaving only small pockets of flames. The light of dawn crept pass the horizon illuminating the barren wasteland that was once part of Fuyuki City for the entire world to see.

….

Shirou's eyes opened from the explosion that was a few miles away. He looked around him and saw whole neighborhoods demolished.

He slowly tried standing up and walking away from all of this madness.

He could hear them all. The shouts, the cry, the plea for help.

He placed his hands over his ears and continued walking to wherever his feet may take him. Anywhere but here was better he thought. He couldn't take it anymore longer. After a final step, he collapsed to the ground.

'I'm dead' Shirou thought. His family, his home even his promise which he couldn't remember was all gone. It would be good to die he thought, to just let it all go and just give up. For once death was truly something Shirou wished for.

Shirou's eyes slowly opened as he saw a man holding him in a tight embrace. His head was hurting, it felt like a he was bash on a shield several times. His vision was disorientated and blurred.

What little he could saw was a man with dark hair in a trench coat, he was crying. But what was most prominent about the stranger was that he was smiling. A smile of peace and tranquility.

'Why was he smiling? What did he do to be so happy?' Shirou's mind was clouded. He couldn't remember what happened earlier. Where was he? How did all of this happened? What caused all of this? Only vague memories of the screams, wails and pleas for help. And this deep guilt he could feel in his heart. Something was telling him that he failed something or someone.

The man held him in his embrace and started to walk finding help for the boy. He thought that if he could save anyone, even one life, he would be happy. And as luck would have answered him, he found this boy, and so he was filled with gratitude and a small shred of happiness, for what happiness can be achieved by the Magus Killer? The man's name is Kiritsugu Emiya.

….

Kirei Kotomine saw the event that had just unfolded. A red haired boy was sent tumbling towards the center of the crater were the grail formed. Its contents were spilled on top of the boy. After that an explosion of pure wrath erupted extinguishing all of the flames. No, not extinguish, "pushed away" the flames would be a better way to describe it. The flames literally were blown by the force then slowly it as pulled towards the center of the crater and absorbed by the dark crimson blob.

Now in the center of the crater, unharmed, albeit a littler bruised up laid the red haired boy. His body bear no marks of blood or wounds. All of the dark crimson liquid that made up the grail was gone.

'Where did it go?' Kirei thought for a second, then he realized the answer was right in front of him. He walked towards the boy. Kirei could feel the dark energy inside of him. This boy, he thought, this boy now held the power of the Angra Mainyu although only a very small fraction of it. He smiled. The opportunity to see the Holy Grail reborn was tantalizingly pleasing. If only he could witness it again, that destruction, pure evil and wrath in all its glory. And here the boy had a piece of it.

He picked up the boy holding him in Kirei's embrace. A sinister smile radiated on his face.

Kurou felt the tight embrace and opened his eyes a bit. He saw a man garbed in a priest outfit. He had short dark brown hair which was somewhat untidy but still seemed a little handsome that the right eye of the man was kept from view a little. A golden cross hung on the neck of the priest.

What was most prominent on the man was the smile. A pure sinister smile, like he found his favorite toy and now was going to play with it to his hearts contents.

Kurou couldn't comprehend what was happening currently, his memories were blurred. The only thing that he could remember or to put it more precise "feel" was the hatred and anger he had for something or someone. He tried to smile, to change his facial expression so he could feel what his savior was feeling. But he couldn't, he didn't know why.

"Young one, what is your name?" the priest asked, holding Kurou in his arms.

This is when Kurou got a good look of his savior. He saw a man who gained everything but swept it all aside because there was something he was searching, something he has been longing for. Kurou could feel the same desire for destruction and despair emanating from the man although he couldn't pinpoint to what exactly. And he thought, this man, this person of God, maybe, could just maybe, help him in obtaining his burning desire. To destroy all that was evil no matter the cost.

Kurou tried to speak up.

"Kurou….my…..name…is…Kurou," Kurou tried to speak as much as he can, but his strength was betraying him and his throat was dry from all the fire and smoke, and with that he slumped unconscious in the arms of Kirei.

Kurou. The name resonated in Kirei's head. It literally meant black, void, darkness. A fitting name he thought for the 'son of Angra Mainyu'. Kirei smiled. He had never been any happier, his curiosity over what would transpire a young boy like Kurou to be able to accept the 'essence of Angra Mainyu' was something he wanted to observed and watch.

Kirei Kotomine started walking back towards the church on the hill on the far side of Fuyuki, along with Kurou's small figure in his arms.

…

….A few days later…

Shirou woke up in light filled room. On his bedside table was an apparatus that was monitoring his heartbeat. His head, arms and part of his body was bandaged. He didn't feel any lasting damage, no amputations or sever pain. He only felt weak.

He was in a white room. The bed he awoke from was next to a window overlooking the city. He could see smoke rising over the river. Smoke. Fire. Reality came flooding in. He remembered, or at least part of what he remembered. He was dying in the flames, there was an explosion and someone found him, a man that looked so happy.

The door to his room suddenly opened and the man he remembered saving him came in. It seemed he just finished speaking to the doctor or the nurse, he couldn't tell.

Kiritsugu Emiya took a chair and sat beside the bed where Shirou lay.

Kiritsugu's eyes were gleaming with hope and happiness. Something Shirou wanted to feel as well.

"Young boy, what's your name?"

"Shi….Shirou"

Kiritsugu held Shirou's hand. Shirou literally meant white, pure. But a deeper understanding of the Kanji form is that Shirou could also mean 'castle, fortitude and haven'. Kiritsugu smiled. It seemed that Shirou would have become Kiritsugu's 'haven'.

"Um..no…..Who are you Mr?" Shirou said. Bringing what little strength he had. He was curious with his savior and how he could have saved him.

"My name? My name is Kiritsugu…. Kiritsugu Emiya," Kiritsugu straighten himself up. He was about to tell the boy bad news.

"It's been 2 days since I've found you"

"No one has been here to claim you"

The boy's expression went still. Was he alone now? What would the man that called himself Kiritsugu do?

"Since that's the case, would you like to come with me?"

The boy's expression quickly changed from loneliness to a simple smile. His golden eyes glimmered with gratitude towards this man for coming for him, saving him. He nodded.

"If that's the case, then you will need you know something about me," Kiritsugu braced himself for what he was about to tell Shirou, not everyone would openly accept the fact that mages exist.

"I'm a magus, a magic user"

Shirou went still trying to absorb what he heard. It almost makes perfect sense in the mind of the 7-year-old. This man. This person can perform and use 'magic' and that was why he could save him. And maybe someday he could also learn this 'magic' save everyone and stop this feeling of guilt he had in his heart, this feeling that he wasn't able to do something, that he betrayed someone because he didn't had the ability or strength to perform otherwise. And then he could also be happy like this man that called himself a mage. Yes, this was the right decision he thought.

And thus begins the life of Shirou Emiya, the son of the Magus Killer.

….

Author Notes: So this is my first fanfict. I'm planning a lot for this fanfict, so make sure you review. Positive criticism is mostly appreciated. I'm still confused with the terms writer's use. I'm assuming OC means "Original Character", Omake means "Original Make" and many more terms I don't know. I'm willing to learn if you are willing to teach. As on 25/8/2013 I've edited this chapter from the original one I posted to show the readers where the direction of my writing will be taking. It doesn't change the overall plot, just the in depth and the concept behind my writing was added. A few notes of clarification.

The name "Kurou": In order to find and create a counterpart to Shirou I had to sniff through his background and find a suitable name for the character. I ended up with Kurou. I initially wanted to use the name 'Suzaku' or 'Syaroan' because these are names that are well heard of in the anime and manga world. 'Suzaku' comes from the word 'Vermillion bird of the South', it could spew fire and was very rebellious. I thought that made a fitting name. But when comparing it to Shirou I thought it didn't fit. 'Syaroan' was the name of the character from Tsubasa Chronicles and…. He has the element 'fire'. But I realized 'Syaroan' was a pure name and it would be a poor tribute to his namesake if I made him being the son of Kirei. So I searched for the meaning of the name 'Shirou' and I was surprised when it meant 'white', that's when the idea couldn't be any better. 'Kurou' means black. I wanted him to be the opposite of Shirou and there was a good sound to it when you combined it with 'Kotomine'. What do I mean by opposite? Well you'll have to stay tuned with the character development.

Shirou's guilt: reading other fanfictions (especially From Fake Dreams written by Third Fang which I'm a BIG fan of) I often hear that shirou has this guilty issue about being the only survivor of Fuyuki fire. To me, that idea of 'guilty because you survived' didn't fit in my logics. So I needed to create an event that would really make him feel guilty for being the supposedly 'only' survivor. The breaking of a promise, the initial feeling of being weak, useless and the only option was to surrender and run away. From there then I believe stems this 'survivor's guilt' we're all hearing.


	2. When Fire meets Ruby

Disclaimer: I don't own Fate/ Stay Night or any Type-Moon works.

…..

**Chapter 2: When Fire meets Ruby**

**October 1994.**

There was fire everywhere. The fire was blackish crimson, dancing around the barren field void of life. Not a single soul can be seen for miles across the wasteland.

Corpses litter the field. Everywhere you look there were dead bodies. Their bodies showed signs of being burnt or immolated. Some of the corpses were missing some body parts. A missing torso, a decapitated head, an amputated leg or arm.

Then there were the buried hands. It was like the bearers of those hands were clawing themselves from their graves. They were reaching out everywhere. Trying to find a foothold to get out from the ground they were in or… or… or grab onto anyone that was foolish enough to get close or inspect the hands protruding from the ground. A closer inspection, it seems as if the hands would twitch as you brush or move closer towards them.

The sky was dark violet with only shimmers of light at the edge of the horizon. The sky was void from any stars except for the dark clouds that filled the sky. Each cloud almost resembling the mark of death or a skull. It seemed as if the heavens themselves were tormenting the earth it resides over. Then there was the sun….. or is it a moon? A great black crimson orb can be seen floating in the sky. It wasn't like the sun that bathes the plains with rays of light or the moon that shines the surface of the earth with mystical moonlight. This planetary being radiated with pure malice and agony. The rays it gives off sends misery to those in its focus.

And then there was the black fire that was dancing on the wasteland.

As it passes the corpses, they withered and burn away. As it passes the hands that were sticking out of the ground, they clench into a fist and retreated back. This black fire must be something terrifyingly strong to scare and destroy such beings. Raw power emanated from it as the black fire continues to dance around the wasteland.

What is this place?

Where is this place?

How can such a place exist?

Devoid of life, happiness and any sense of peace or tranquility. What demonic spasm would create this? What being would spend their days here? The earth seemed to be filled with curses wherever you stepped on. The skies were filled with agony and hatred over all that it covers and the sun….. if you could call it one, was radiating pure evil and darkness rather than light and purity. This world seems to be pulling all evils into it and not allowing any to leave.

Is this hell?

Is this where all the evil came from and where it would return?

Is this the END?

…

….Fuyuki Church….

Kurou jolted from his bed, awoken from his slumber. His brow was sweating and his body was tense from what he just saw. His dream… no, it was a nightmare.

Kurou swept the sweat on his forehead. His breathing was tense and fast. He tried to calm down and even his breathing. Weeping or contemplating on a nightmare wouldn't do any good.

'It was just a dream', he thought.

'Nothing to be worried about, right?'

Snapping himself back into reality, Kurou looked around his room and his now present-home.

It has been 6 months since he lived with the priest of the church, Kirei Kotomine. 6 months since the great fire that ravaged Fuyuki City, his hometown. 6 months since he lost part of his memory and there was nothing that would bring it back, no matter what he did.

He awoken in this very room, on this same bed, bandaged, stitched and healed from all injuries. And sitting on a chair next to his bed was Kirei looking down at him.

The moment he saw Kirei, Kurou was on a rampage. He jolted upright from his resting place and threw himself off the bed. He was in fear. So many questions were on his mind. Where was he? Who was this stranger? Why in the world could he hear voices of people wringing in pain and agony in his head?

'_Die!'_

'_Kill them all!'_

'_Make them suffer!'_

The moment Kirei saw the look of fear and confusion on Kurou he quickly stood up from his seat and placed his left hand on the boy's hand and his right hand's thumb on the boy's forehead which was sweating with fear. His expression never changed from his stern stoic initial expression.

His left hand was gripping him so tight that he was now looking into the priest eyes. His eyes seemed empty, void of life yet happy in a malicious way. His thumb was gently placed on his forehead and he used his remaining fingers to slowly move aside the strand of hair that was over his eyes. And then he spoke:

"_I am light and relieve you of all burdens"_

The words echoed into Kurou's mind, resonating as each millisecond passed. The priest's voice sounded both tranquil and miserable. Even so the moment he said those words, the voices in Kurou's head began to tone-down and now it was only a whisper.

Kurou's breathing relaxed. His body began to calm down. That was when he had a good look at the stranger in front of him. The man had short dark brown hair; he seemed quite tall compared to an average person. His eyes were also brown. They bore the emptiness and void that Kurou realized earlier.

At that, Kirei loosen his grip on the boy's arm and retreated back to his seat. His face still void of any expression. There didn't even seem to be a sense of pity from him.

"You should not move too much, _your wounds might open up again,_" the last part of his words seemed like he wanted that to happen.

Kurou sat upright, facing the man. His face slightly tilted down. He tried to muster the last reserved strength he had to speak up.

"Who…. Who are you?"

"My name is Kirei Kotomine"

"I'm a priest from the Roman Catholic Church; I found you yesterday in the fire and brought you here to my church for healing"

He said each sentence without even changing his facial expression. Void and empty.

"I'm….. I'm….. I'm at the Fuyuki church?" Kurou asked. This place wherever he was, didn't felt like a place dedicated for God. It felt empty, void of life. He could hear voices from wherever he looked. It felt more like a place for trapping demons and devils.

"And….. And….. Yo-you healed me?" he stuttered in his speech, not quite believing what had happened.

"Yes"

"I am a mage, and thus I also have the ability to heal you"

"A…. a…. mage?" Kurou didn't know what to believe now. His head was full of questions. He was utterly confused. Who is this person? How could he have done magic? Did all churches have priest that could use magic?

"Here, let me show you," Kirei lifted his hand and showed his palm towards the small boy. Kurou looked curiously, firstly towards the man then to the palm of his hand.

"_Relief is in my hands. I will add oil to your sins and leave a mark"_

Kirei's hand started glowing and soothing energy started radiating from it. Ever so curious, Kurou extended his own hand and slowly touched the hand of the priest. Kurou felt the tranquil energy upon contact and was fixated to it.

Then the glowing stopped and everything was quiet again. The priest brought his hand back but Kurou was still looking at his own hand, astonished at what he just witnessed.

"Your name is Kurou right?" the boy nodded.

"Do you want to stay here? With me?"

The young boys mind raced with ideas. Staying with this man meant he could see more of this 'magic'. That also meant he could get to know more the person who saved him. His mind raced with the possibilities: can I also learn this magic? Can I do something cool like that too? He giggled at the idea.

His faced made a simple smile towards the priest. Even when he could sense the misery in this man. Even when he could hear whispers of darkness and emptiness and insanity coming from him, he pushed it all away.

'He can't be that bad right?' 'He did save me' Kurou thought.

"Can I?" Kurou said, trying his very best not to sound rude.

"There are some papers I will need to prepare for guardianship records and certificates" Kirei said.

"For the time being, rest here, the house of God is open for all," Kirei stood up from his seat and slowly exited the room. Not actually answering the question. While exiting, Kirei's smile became more sinister.

'Is that a yes?' Kurou slumped back into his bed as tiredness overtook him. That was how he first met Kirei Kotomine his adopted father. And now his name was Kurou Kotomine.

That was how he remembered it. There wasn't much he could remember before that incident Kurou thought. Other than the pain of the fire and the screams of horror during that hellish incident, he couldn't remember anything. It was all blurry and confusing. And then there was this deep burning desire to burn everything around him. It was like there was something stirring in him that wanted to see destruction. It was most rampant when he could hear the voices in his head.

_"Rest. Do not forget song, do not forget prayer, and do not forget me._

_I am light and relieve you of all your burdens_

_Relief is in my hands. I will add oil to your sins and leave a mark"_

Kurou chanted what was part of the Baptism Rite that his now-adopted father had taught him. Relief came from it. This was the first thing he asked his father to teach him, he wanted to know how he was able to calm his mind like what he did in their first real encounter.

The Baptism Rite is the sole magical miracle that is permitted to be learned in the Church. His father said that the teachings of God were considered to be the greatest weapon against evil spirits.

It is the purification and elevation of a wayward soul through the teachings of the Lord. It is a miracle that has healed the hearts of many and because of that, it is the most widely known and wide-spread theory of 'magic' or thaumaturgy as his father said. Unlike 'real' magecraft. The Baptism Rite requires only a strong faith and belief to the Almighty, and as such it was perfect for Kurou who had zero knowledge of magic.

There was still more to the aria, but his father said he would teach him another time. For now these three lines were the only things that kept him from going insane over hearing the voices and screams of agony.

It became a daily routine now. More like a prayer than a spell. But it did its job nonetheless. Every morning after waking up and before he slept his father ordered him to chant those words like his life depended on it.

A knocked was heard on his bedroom door.

"Yes? Come in"

His father came in, ready in his priest uniform like always. It seemed as if he was wearing the same piece of clothing every day. Well, there was never a day that the church was close was it? It 'is' the house of God. Even when the church was empty, he would still wear his priest outfit.

Likewise, Kurou didn't have much choice either on his own attire. His father brought him out to buy some clothes the other day and he would just prefer simple attires that were either black or dark blue. And there was also his own priest jacket that he would wear on certain occasions where he would have to help his father around the church.

"We are going to the cemetery today, there is some important business I'll need to attend to," Kirei said. His tone ever so monotonous. And as quickly as he came, he left.

Kurou nodded and got off his comfy bed. He scanned his room. It was a modest light blue-sky room. It wasn't grand nor was it regular in Japan to have a bedroom like this one.

His bed was a four-poster bed with the canopy removed. The sheets, blankets and mattress were all white. It was situated in the middle of his room. At the far corner to his room adjacent to the only window was a simple wooden oak study table and empty shelves next to it. Kurou didn't have the time to fill it nor did he know what he wanted to put in those shelves. It was somewhat similar like him. That empty filling, even when you have been reborn and new yet you still don't know what to do to fill that void. On the table was a simple electronic lamp.

In another corner were the drawer and his closet with the clothes his father just brought him. There was also a built in bathroom to his room.

His room wasn't the normal Japanese traditional room; it was like a mesh of Japanese and western-style home. His house was also similar in that sense. He didn't actually live in the church. The church was public property after all and it 'was' the house of God. He and his father lived in a house that was linked directly to the church. It was a one-story house. There were 3 bedrooms, one unoccupied, a simple kitchen and a living room where they would also eat. His father bought a television when Kurou got fixated in front of it when they went shopping for supplies but Kirei never took the time to watch with him.

Kurou dashed to the bathroom and took his morning shower. He looked at himself in the mirror. He tried combing his rusty-colored hair with his hands, but it was still a bit untidy. Eventually he only managed to comb his hair to the point he looked like his father.

He chose a black t-shirt with dark blue outlines and a pair of black sleek pants that would complement with his black priest 'jacket'. After looking in the mirror to see whether he was presentable he tidied his bed and exited his room.

He headed to the kitchen where he found a cereal box on one of the shelves and some milk in the refrigerator. If his father cooked it would usually be something spicy and hot. The taste was exhilarating. Kurou didn't hate it but he would prefer less spicy food from time to time.

As soon as he finished breakfast, His father came out of his room. He was ready in his priest uniform and his golden cross hung from his neck. In his right hand was a black bible. In his left was something that looked like a dagger with a single ruby on the tilt wrapped in a white cloth.

"Come now, let us go," Kirei said without even hinting whether he had or had not have breakfast. That was one of the common things when living with his father. They weren't really the sociable type. Kirei would either be in his room or at the church only talking to Kurou when it came to his condition or if Kurou needed anything.

Kurou washed the dishes, tiptoeing to reach the sink and then followed suit his father. Kurou made it a point to follow his father when it came to church matters. He was curious with what his father did and what his job was. Who was the man that saved him? Were there anymore secrets that he had? Is he some kind of superhero that was force into a stoic expression because he didn't want his personal life to interfere with his job just like what Kurou saw on the cartoons?

Kurou was curious. He would sometimes hide behind his father's desk in the church to eavesdrop on his father or tried to eavesdrop on what he did in his room only to be caught the next moment red-handed by his father. He would watch when his father was giving sermons or help out when it came to tidying up the church. So far his curiosity hasn't been sated. He seemed like any other normal priest.

His father did hint that he will have to leave overseas for a while to do something but he never told what it was. Kurou would ask him what he did overseas and whether he could follow him after their business at the cemetery. To Kurou, Kirei seemed like an ok father, he did save him and taught him how to calm his mind, and that was a good thing, right?

…..

….Fuyuki Cemetary…..

The cemetery was a 10 minute walk from the church. There was a funeral for somebody important, somebody that Kirei knew, some body that he killed. But no one knew that, not even Kurou.

It was the funeral for the deceased Tokiomi Tohsaka.

As if on cue, the sky that has darkened now was showering droplets of rain, weeping over the loss of another betrayed soul. Yet still the funeral would have to continue.

The van that was carrying the body has just arrived, along with a few black cars and a taxi. Even if Tokiomi Tohsaka was a known member in the community both in the magical world and the normal world it didn't seem that there were many people who would be attending his funeral. The reason was because of the little girl that came out of the taxi.

She had long black silk-like hair that looked as beautiful as the night sky which was tied into twin tails with a black ribbon. Her eyes were aqua blue that glimmered like stars in the night sky and the tone of her skin seemed so pure like a new infant baby. She wore her green primary school outfit. She could be considered a model in an 8 years-old body. The only imperfection was her stoic expression that she wore. Her name was Rin Tohsaka.

The reason why Rin's father, Tokiomi Tohsaka's funeral was to be postponed 6 months later was because of the last will any mage would entrust to their first-born heir: The transplantation of their Magic Crests.

The letter that Tokiomi wrote, which entrusted everything to the Association after his death, was planned to the very last second of his life; it was truly a real portrait of the man himself and what his family stood for: Perfection, Control and Elegance. The transfer of the body and the extraction of the Crest were all entrusted to the Association's headquarters in London by Kirei, now acting as Rin's guardian. The Crest was handed to Tokiomi's friends to be guarded securely to ensure that it would be impeccably transplanted onto Rin's body in the future.

Transplanting a Crest into someone will cause a great burden to the body, therefore it was best to transplant it to the family successor before his or her secondary sexual characteristics have developed completely. However, when the previous Head suddenly passes away, many unthought-of difficulties often would occur. Like for example another family would want a claim over his body and Magic Crests or some Lords and Noble families had a bad history with the Tohsakas. But Tokiomi had overcome this and made impeccable preparations. He had passed the essence of magecraft that the Tohsaka house had compiled over the generations all unto Rin without omitting a single thing.

However, due to the numerous procedures involved with the transport of the body and the removal of the Crest, over six months passed before Tokiomi's body was returned home. As a result, people who attended the funeral procession today were the few who knew the truth of his death, completely unrelated to the prestige and achievements the family had achieved in its homeland. A lonely funeral like this is probably a sin one must bear as a magus.

Even at a tender age, she had to take charge with her father's funeral due to the complications and also because her mother wasn't really in the right-state of mind to do so, although she thought it might be for the best.

Rin's mother, Aoi Tohsaka, who was supposed to organize the funeral and all of the Tohsaka family's matters as the widow wasn't able to due to the state of her mental health. It was a stroke of bad luck that she was caught in the cross-fire of the fourth Holy Grail War. Kirei founded her half-dead on the floors of the church. She seemed to have been choked and strangled. She survived the predicament but she lost her sanity and is currently in a delusional state of happiness and peace.

Rin watched as people started transporting the coffin to the burial site. She didn't waver nor did she cry over the fact that her father had died. She has made her decision since accepting the Magic Crests of her father: that she would stay strong no matter what obstacles would face her; perfection, control and elegance. That was the motto of the Tohsaka family.

Visitors came and have already started acknowledging Rin as the next Head of the family. Rin just nodded, smiled as much as she could and guided the visitors to the burial site. Her left hand where the Magic Crest of the Tohsaka family twitched. Her body was still not used to the Crest that had only been recently grafted. It itches a lot at some moments and kept on inflicting pain on her. But there was no sign of agony shown on the young girl's face, and she would endure the funeral until the very last minute. Indeed, this willpower of hers didn't match her age.

The moment Kurou who was standing beside his father waiting by the burial site saw the girl, his eyes lit open. He thought he saw a Valkyrie in human form. Kurou could feel the strength and fortitude coming from Rin. He knew, from the moment he laid eyes on her, he knew that she was a mage like his father.

It was Kurou's sixth sense.

As his father would explain it, mages and some normal humans had a sixth sense in order to sense magical presence. In Kurou's case, it came in the form of voices, music and sounds. And it didn't just sense mages but also normal humans and other non-human beings like cats and rodents. Kurou could initially hear the hearts of a person, their strength, their desires, their emotions, but the loudest sounds were people's misery. His mind would sometimes burst with insanity when he was in crowded places hearing everyone's deepest misery that they went through. It was only thanks to his father that he was able to relax and calm down with the help of the 3 line Baptism Rite that he would chant over and over again. It didn't eliminate the voices or the shouts of agony but at least now it was bearable that now he could also focus on the other sounds he wanted to hear.

Because he stayed with his father for the past 6 months, the voices that emanated from him were something Kurou was able to bear; he could consider it as a form of 'background music'. It was the sound of a craving for the destruction and the agony for others. But it also had the sound of loss and emptiness; as if only through the destruction and the agony of others can he fill this void. In that sense, Kurou pitied his father and empathized him. He always tried to not be a burden to him and it was this feeling of empathy that gave him the strength to listen to the heart of his father.

In Rin's case, he was taken by surprise. He could hear the loneliness and the want for comfort and security coming from the girl. But he could also hear the sounds of drums and horns that would conquer all of these obstacles no matter what. The music he could hear from Rin was like one of those epic soundtracks where soldiers went to war knowing full well that they would die yet still strive for victory. This person, this young girl who was as old as him was strong and Kurou wished he could continue to hear this music of victory over all odds forever.

He wanted to touch the girl, he wanted to feel that strength that was shining from her, he wanted that same strength.

"Kirei Kotomine," her voice sounded bitter while acknowledging Kirei's presence. Her voice didn't betray the fact that she was sad over the death of her father. She was now standing directly in front of him and his father.

Kurou snapped out from his delusion of music and focused his sight towards the young girl in front of him.

"Hello Rin," the priest said with a sinister smile.

Rin eyed the priest, then towards the boy standing next to him. Her sharp eyes were trying to make out what was the relationship between the two. Kirei realizing Rin's curiosity then explained:

"I believe the both of you haven't met," Kirei slowly pushed Kurou forward so he was now between his father and Rin. Kurou stumbled a bit, taken aback at his father's act.

"This is my adopted son, Kurou Kotomine," Kurou nodded and tried to pull the most pleasant smile he had in his arsenal, albeit it was only a simple smile. He wanted to say something but didn't know what to say in such a situation, social communication skills wasn't his forte, and he would be damn lucky if he could ever express what was on his mind.

"Hello… I'm Kurou Kotomine, it is a pleasant to make your acquaintances," now he didn't know how he was able to pull that off.

"I'm sorry for your loss Lady Tohsaka, I'm sure your father would have been proud of your ability to be so calm and elegant even during these hard times,"

Kurou mentally smacked himself for saying that. What did he just said? It was like the words just gushed out of his mouth without even him realizing it.

Rin was taken aback by the comment. Her face started to gain a bit of red in it. Not sure whether to make heads or tails with it. How dare he comment what her father would have thought at his own funeral. She felt like she wanted to smack the young boy's face. She thought maybe this was one of the annoying traits he might have inherited from his father, the priest. Hell she didn't even thought he was qualified to become one.

But at the same time, the comment seemed like it was something she needed to hear. Calm and elegant. Yes her father would have wanted her to continue to act so. Would he have been proud? Would she get a pat on the head by her father for a job well done? She would never know.

She felt so conflicted and confused. 'Urghhhhh'

Eventually she thought to put it aside first, this could wait. She replied back with a solemn smile.

Kirei who was watching the whole scene was laughing in his heart. The boy seemed to have gotten his talent in commenting on subjects that were personal to the heart although the effects might be reverse in his case.

The trio then proceeded with the funeral, putting the scene that just happened aside for the moment.

Rin helped out with ushering the guests and visitors towards the burial site although only a handful. Kurou stayed close with his father. The both of them were waiting by the burial site.

As the coffin is placed into the depths of the earth and the dirt was poured over it, Kirei Kotomine started The Gathering. He opened his bible and started opening the services by reciting the Holy Scriptures.

"_I am the resurrection and the life," said the Lord;_

"_He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever lived and believeth in me shall never die."_

Some of the guests have started sobbing a little as earth was placed over the coffin. Some took out black umbrellas as the rain continued to pour droplets of diamond over the cemetery. Rin however, stood calmly throughout the process. She was silent but nonetheless she wasn't crying. She hated to admit it, but she really wished that her father was proud of her being calm and elegant even during his own funeral. For now that was the only thought that made sure she didn't break into tears.

"– _I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand up on the earth."_

Kirei continued with the recitation of Psalms 23: 'The Lord is My Shepherd'. The funeral progressed on even in the icy-cold rain.

"_And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes – I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me… Amen."_

Kirei finished the last of his sermons and closed his bible; the coffin along with Tokiomi Tohsaka was finally buried.

With some words of prayer from the others, the mourners left one by one. In the rain that once again regained its silence, only the young girl who took charge of the funeral and the priest who led the ceremonies along with his son were left behind.

"Good work. It was a splendid debut for the next Head of the Tohsaka family"

"Tokiomi's preparations were flawless to say the least; the Tohsaka family's magecraft would be passed on towards you without any problem.

Kurou nodded in agreement a tender smile on his face, not knowing what else to comment about. Rin just nodded in silence hearing those words of praise for her.

Kirei looked around the cemetery, which was now desolate, and turned around towards the taxi that had waited at the back.

"Why don't you bring out your mother, Rin"

"Yes, I will"

Rin went back to the taxi that her mother was in. Although reluctant to let her come into contact with outsiders, Rin still wanted her mother to meet her father one last time before the coffin was to be buried beneath the earth. She walked towards the car, helped her mother onto the wheelchair, and pushed it towards Tokiomi's grave. In the wheelchair, although the widow still looked very young and beautiful, there wasn't any expression engraved on her face; only a hazy, dreamy stare that looked into the void.

"Come on, Mother. Let's say our last goodbyes to Father"

Hearing Rin's urging sound; Aoi's dreamy eyes finally yet slowly moved with life, she stared solemnly at the ground. Her eyes slowly swept around the gravestones surrounding her, and opened her eyes wide as if having finally realized something.

"Ah, Rin, is it someone's funeral today?"

"That's right. Father passed away," Rin replied.

"Oh my…. I'll have to hurry and take out Tokiomi's funeral clothes – Rin, go help Sakura get dressed. Ahhh what to do what to do. I haven't prepared anything…"

Aoi, who was sitting on a wheelchair, sank into a brief panic. Then, she suddenly bent down like a marionette with its strings broken. Moreover, when she finally lifted her head up again, she showed a gentle smile towards where Kurou stood, and stretched out her fingers in front of her.

"See, my dear, your tie is not straight again. And there's a string sticking over your shoulder. You need to cheer up, dear. After all, you're the proud father of Rin and Sakura…"

Aoi prattled on and on to the husband that only she could see. Meanwhile, Rin simply stayed by her mother's side and guarded her in silence.

Aoi Tohsaka, who had received brain damage as a result of oxygen deprivation, was unable to communicate properly with Kirei and Rin or with any one for that matter. Undoubtedly for Rin, Aoi had been an innocent victim swept up into the Fourth Heaven's Feel just like her father.

However, for Aoi who was no longer able to correctly comprehend reality, perhaps this was happier for her. Her heart had remained at the time when Sakura was still in the house and Tokiomi was still alive. She wandered in the spacious Tohsaka mansion, conversed and laughed with the husband and younger daughter in her memories, and lived on forever in the beautiful dream of a happy family.

Only Rin was left behind in the real world by herself. She took care of such a mother, but could only look at her silently and was unable to move a single step into that happy picture. She hid the sadness that no one else could feel, bore the heavy burden of being the head of a magecraft clan upon her young body, and endured the pain of the Crest. It was truly a far-too-cruel fate for a young girl who was only the same age as Kurou.

Kurou's heart was stunned. How in the world could such a lovely lady became insane? What were her crimes that she did in order to receive such agonizing punishments? Was it only because of a stroke of bad luck? How could a young girl his age take upon so much and yet be so elegant and pure? The world it seemed was too cruel for mages.

He could hear the sorrow and sadness in the woman's heart. It was like a sad melody where she wished things would be back to the good old days. The sound of a sad violin musician playing in the background while tears of rain were pouring and the ocean waves hitting the rocks.

Kirei, however, thought that it was an incomparably good strike of luck that he was made the guardian of such a tragic girl.

He could only feel joy through the other's pain and suffering. To Kirei, who had known his twisted true colors a long time ago, Rin's current predicaments were undoubtedly the best environment to make her grow into a sentimental girl. Since Kirei would be able to appraise everything from the closest distance and he would also be able to witness the agony of life that the child of Angra Mainyu would go through; it was undoubtedly an enjoyment comparable to tasting the most outstanding wine.

However, what angered him was the fact that he had never received such rewards.

Though she was burdened with this tragic fate, the young girl didn't shed a single tear. Not even a weak word was ever said by her.

Even now, before her pitiful mother who could not comprehend her father's passing, Rin still kept a calm look. She forcibly suppressed her sorrow and grief inside her heart, and waited for her mother to calm down. This would have been a situation where other children of her age, who were spoiled to death by their parents, would never have been able to endure.

Rin had already acknowledged and accepted her fate, and was courageous enough to boldly face it. Such rare pride and self-control were the greatest virtues possessed by the young girl named Rin Tohsaka, but it was the thing that angered Kirei the most.

He had originally thought that seeing the shameful behavior of her beloved mother would demoralize her soul, but he did not expect her to accept her mother's weakness of becoming enthralled in dreams with a merciful and accommodating heart.

This young girl was advancing step by step towards the heretic road named magecraft, Kirei thought. Perhaps one day she would become just like her father, and discard all the twisted evil desires of a magus and form a most righteous and balanced personality. Of course, that would be the most boring development for Kirei. He had originally expected very much to see just what kind of a twisted flower would bloom out of Tokiomi's daughter.

No matter. He still had the child of Angra Mainyu, and from the discoveries he found from observing the young boy he relished the fact that he might still be able to enjoy himself. He had plans for Kurou and those plans required a lot of pain, agony and hard-earned training in the ways of death.

Keeping all of the secrets in his heart, Kirei placed his hand on Rin's shoulders as if encouraging her. He brought her away from her mother so they may speak without her in the picture, leaving Kurou standing beside the woman.

"Rin, I will be out from the country for a few weeks. Do you have any immediate concerns?"

"No! I won't rely on you for anything!" The young girl broke the contact between them. She answered with a tough tone, not even looking at Kirei.

Even though she hated the priest, she would not object her father's wish for Kirei Kotomine to be her guardian. She founded it difficult to trust the priest and even more difficult to hide that fact. Kirei was her father's assistant during the Holy Grail War and in the end he failed to protect her father. Rin couldn't hide the suspicion or the anger she had for Kirei even until today.

Kirei only felt Rin's inexperienced hatred to be laughable. What would be the reaction of this girl when she came to know the truth one day? That would be something he would be looking forward to see in the future.

"We will meet again after some time. Then the second Crest transplantation process can be performed. Please take care of yourself."

"I already know that"

Her tone was now harsher than usual; maybe if he pushed a few of her buttons he may be able to break this shining gemstone. A rather sickening idea suddenly flashed in Kirei's mind.

"Rin… from now onwards you will be the new head of the Tohsaka, in order to celebrate this special occasion let me present to you a gift"

As he said that, Kirei pulled out a dagger from within his coat together with the white cloth wrapped around it.

This was the same Azoth Sword that was given to him by Tokiomi as a symbol of friendship, so he brought this dagger along as some silly little joke. It was also a little compensation for the man who had died by his hand.

"This is what I received from Tokiomi-sensei in the past when he recognized the achievements of my magecraft studies – I think it is better for you to have it from now on."

Rin took the dagger, pulled the dagger from the cloth that wrapped it, and studied it carefully. She caressed the leather of the hilt and the magecraft runes on the blade almost reverently, as if she could feel the warmth of her father's fingers within.

"… Father …"

A small ripple suddenly appeared on the dagger that the girl held in her hands – a single drop of tear suddenly tumbled down the immaculate blade.

Meanwhile, Kurou who was standing beside Aoi, watching his father talk to Rin at the same time eyeing the woman beside him. His heart was aching in pain. He could feel something tugging in him to do something about the woman next to him. All that misery, all that pain, he wished he could do something to make her feel better, to make the voices stop, to bring back this woman to peace. He wished he could burn it all away.

Without even knowing it, Kurou placed his palm on the hands of Aoi. Rin and Kirei still didn't notice, they were still busy talking. Aoi looked towards Kurou, her empty eyes brighten at the contact.

"Um…. Hello there young one," she had with a cheery voice as if they had just met.

And Kurou recited:

"_I am light and relieve you of all your burdens"_

The moment Kurou chanted those words, Aoi snapped from her dream state. Her eyes begin to glow back with life as if she had just obtained her vision back. Tears began to roll down her eyes as she was looking around her, just realizing where she was or what was happening. Then her sobs become more apparent.

Rin whom was also about to shed tears snapped back as she heard her mother's cry. She eyed Kurou who was holding Aoi's hand, like a protective mother lion. She dashed forward and pushed him away from her crying mother.

"Get away from my mother you freak!" she shouted angrily. Rin guarded her mother from Kurou who she thought was clearly the one at fault.

Kurou fell into a puddle of mud and water. What did he do? Why was she crying? Why was the young girl angry towards him? He staggered to get back up. He placed both hands on the ground for support only to realize that blood was dripping from his face. From his nose to be exact.

"You….you,"Rin pointed to Kurou who was already wet, his nose was dripping blood.

"What did you do to my mother you jerk!?"

"Rin…"

Everyone was bewildered by the voice because it came from the teary Aoi.

"Why….. Why did you push that young boy?" she was still sobbing but it seemed that she had regained some self-control over her sanity.

"It's rude to do that, especially…. Especially when we want to say our last goodbyes to your father," Aoi swept a tear over her eyes as she said that.

Rin was caught by storm from that last statement. It can't be? How in the world did her mother regained her sanity? Did the boy do something to her?

Speechless, hearing the tender and loving voice of her mother once again, Rin buried her face into her mother's lap. Tears of joy streamed from her eyes for being able to hear the caring voice of her mother.

"Mo….Mother," Rin said, her mother's hand patting the back of her daughter.

"There…. There, it's ok," Aoi said while tears streaming down her own face, trying to comfort Rin, clearly she didn't know about the condition she had before.

"Now go and apologize to the young boy that you pushed over," Aoi pointed towards Kurou who was still soaked in mud. Knees and hands bent down for support. His nose was still bleeding though he didn't know why; it wasn't like Rin actually bruised him or anything.

Rin came towards Kurou and reached out her hand to help him out albeit as it seemed a bit reluctant.

"…Sorry…." Rin said, her tone of voice was a mix of animosity and guilt, both conflicting with one another.

Kurou smiled at Rin, grabbing her hand for support and standing back up. He used the sleeve of his jacket to wipe away the blood from his nose. He tried scrubbing off the mud that was on his pants and jacket. He seemed a little disorientated and weak with what just happened, like as if a huge load was placed upon him which when he carried he himself felt like burning. He even felt a bit out of breath, like his lungs couldn't get air and his brain was going to explode due to oxygen deficient. But the feeling was only momentarily and Kurou was able to snap out of his predicament.

"No. I'm the one who was supposed to apologize. I shouldn't have disturbed your mother," Kurou nodded in apology. His smile grew brighter. He listened carefully now; the voices of sorrow and loneliness coming from the women has lessen now, it wasn't the sad violin song anymore, it was more like the violinist was starting a new pace of music, like a take for a new life. At this he seemed happy at what happened.

Rin's face turned red at the reply. What was wrong with this guy? One moment she felt like she wanted to smack him for commenting and disturbing her private life, at another moment she felt guilty because it turned out that he just made things better. She was both angry and happy at the situation she landed in; it was hurting her head just to think what to do next. And it was all because of this boy named Kurou Kotomine.

Aoi smiled towards the duo and faced Kirei. His face still expressionless. He was disappointed with the fact that he wasn't able to watch Rin be in any more torment, but he didn't show it. His eyes were focused on his son who was still wiping some of the mud off his clothes. Interesting he thought.

"I apologize Kirei, for the behavior of my daughter towards your son, what was his name again?"

"Kurou…. Kurou Kotomine," Kirei replied.

"I adopted him since the day found him in the fire after the war"

Aoi looked at the young boy. She gave him a bright warm smile.

"Kurou… that's a beautiful name," her words were like a whisper as if she was talking to herself.

"Kirei…." Her focus came back to Kirei. It sounded like she was trying to find the right words.

"I forgive you even after what happened to my husband,"

"I know you've tried your best to protect him with your abilities, it wasn't your fault,"

"I will allow you and your son to stay on Tohsaka land as long as you wish, I'm sure that just like Tokiomi you have your own plans for your child,"

"Please don't punish yourself by taking too many responsibilities that you might not be able to bear"

"If you ever need assistance, the Tohsaka family would be honored bound to aid you," Aoi said with the bright motherly warm smile she always had, first to Kurou then to his father, Kirei.

"Madam, I am grateful for the gifts you would bestow upon us," Kirei said while slightly bowing a little as a sign of respect. His expression still indifferent. It was funny he thought, Aoi thought that him adopting Kurou was because he felt guilty for the death of Tokiomi. He would never have thought of that. But then again, Tokiomi's fatherly role in a child's life was rubbing off Kirei and he did wanted to watch how Kurou would grow in the future, maybe at some point he could feel a sense of pride in raising a child to become what he envisioned them to be.

Aoi was silent as she watched her husband's grave.

"Well Rin, I guess it is time for us to leave"

"Yes, Mother," Rin walked back towards her mother and pushed her wheelchair out of the cemetery towards the waiting taxi. The Azoth Dagger clutched in her left hand.

As she exited the cemetery her eyes were gazing over Kurou and his father, like a hawk searching for its prey. She still wasn't satisfied with what had just happened, but the fact that her mother was back to normal seemed to have calmed her down.

Kirei gazed upon his son, and smiled. Ohh he had plans for him. He would have to leave him for a while and head overseas to inform the Church that they would be having a new trainee recruit soon. His mind raced at what the boy just did.

"Come now Kurou, let's head back to the church," Kirei said to his son. Kurou managed a smile in response, not saying a word. He followed his father back to the church. His eyes staring over the palm of his hands with utter confusion. What had he just done? There was all that misery and sorrow and loneliness and somehow, the moment Kuou touched the woman, he could almost feel as if he was now holding onto it, like it was now his burden. 'What am I?'

…

….Two weeks later….

…..Fuyuki Chuch…..

Kurou sat in his room reading the bible his father gave him. It has been two week since Kirei left him here alone in the house. His father had some business he had to attend to in Italy and London. What it was Kurou didn't know, but his father did say that when he came back he wanted to discuss the plans for Kurou's future. Kurou was excited in hearing this. He wanted to know what his father did overseas and more importantly he wanted to know more about magic. What can he do with it? How will people view him after this? What would he be able to accomplish?

Kurou flipped a page; he had just finished reading Genesis, now he was entering Exodus.

He didn't venture far away from the church compound or his house. He liked staying at the church, there were less people and that meant fewer voices. For once he could feel peace and silence in his house. The stores and malls were always crowded with people and most disturbing was that he could hear all of their pain and agony just like the last time he went there with his father. Any public places would be the last place he would want to venture.

His father left enough food to get a long the week and the occasional visitors and fellow Christians that came by the church would more often than not donate food for him along with the normal donations they would give for the church.

He was kind of bored waiting for his father to return, but he guessed he would endure it for what his patience would produce.

Then there were the Tohsakas, the Second Owners of the land of Fuyuki. His father reminded him if he needed anything else, he could head towards their mansion and ask for aid. Though he never took the time to go and search for it. His father said that he already informed Aoi Tohsaka about him and gave a vague route on where the Tohsaka mansion was. He didn't put that into memory.

Thus he has chosen to wait and be patient for the time being.

As he was reading Exodus, his sixth sense kicked in. Someone was approaching the church.

He closed his eyes and started focusing on the sound in his mind.

He heard the sounds of drums and horns that would conquer battles even against all odds. The music humming in his head was perfect, elegant and was in total control of the harmony and rhythm of drums and horns. There was slight echo of worry and curiosity as if the person this music belonged to was both finding something and worried about what he or she would find.

Kurou stood from his seat and headed to the front door of his house. He knew who was coming.

The elegant music of conquering against all odds and the strive for perfection belonged to only one person Kurou knew. He opened the door before the person outside could knock it. Standing outside his house was none other than Rin Tohsaka, the person who called him a freak.

"… Hello….," Kurou said trying his best to give a smile. He was bad at that, he wanted to smile as much as he can but it seemed that the muscles in his face wouldn't oblige. In all honesty, after what happened at the funeral a couple of days ago, Kurou was kind of terrified with the new heir of the Tohsaka family. He only managed to bring his cheeks upward a little, it looked like a little child that was hiding something and didn't want to show it.

"Um… Hello," Rin was startled, she was sure she didn't felt the presence of any bounded fields around the area, so how in the world did he knew she was coming.

Rin was in her green primary school uniform. She must have just finished school considering the time of the day. A small black backpack with a red cross hung at her back.

"Kurou?... Kurou Kotomine?"

"Yes…. That's me," Kurou gave a solemn smile. He stuttered a little. 'What was she doing here?' 'Is she here because of what I did?'

Kurou was thinking a thousand reasons Rin would be in front of his doorstep, he wouldn't move out of fear of what might happen if he angered her, however he was more partially fixated by both the beautiful figure that stood in front of him and the music he could hear resonating from her.

"Well… Um…. Aren't you going to invite me inside or something?"

Kurou snapped from his momentary delusion. The girl in front of him was giving him a 'you are weird' look. Kurou stepped aside.

"Yeah… come on in," Kurou ushered her.

"Dad said one of you might be coming, although I half expected your mother to be here instead of you,"

"Well my mother isn't really in the best state to climb up a hill is she?" It was a no-brainier she thought.

"Yeah well, sorry about that, how is she now?" Kurou brought them to the living room and Rin took a seat on a sofa opposing Kurou.

"She's fine, thank you," her tone was saying 'mind your own business'.

Aoi, Rin's mother, seemed happy now. She was focusing more on Rin's future, organizing the Tohsaka family inheritance left by her husband and Rin's father, Tokiomi Tohsaka and Rin's education on both magecraft and her normal education. She's at home almost always due to her health. Everyday Rin would tell her what has transpired her and what achievements she had made at school or in her magecraft and then Rin would be awarded with a tender loving hug from her mother and some words of encouragement to continue on. It wasn't like the good old days where her father was present, but at least Rin still had her mother. So she's at least grateful with the situation she was in.

"I'm sorry….." Kurou lowered his face, hoping to not get her angry or upset.

"It wasn't my place to ask,"

There he goes again, making her feel guilty even before she had been able to hit him.

"Ughhh… its ok,"

Kurou passed Rin some tea that he made. It wasn't that tasty but it was the only thing he had.

Rin sipped some of the tea quickly spewed it back in her cup. The taste was mild and strong, like someone has added spices and curry in her drink. No, it tasted just like curry made into a drink.

"Ewwww…. Who in the world drinks this? I've got better things back at home,"

"My dad bought it"

"I never really cared about the taste because I thought he might have liked it"

"Ughhhhh….." Rin looked at her cup in discussed.

"Next time if you ever come and visit my house then make sure you take a packet. I have the finest tea you'll ever taste in your life," Rin said with an authoritative voice, like she had just given him an order and he had to obey.

"Now, back to the reason why I came to visit, where's your father? My mother wants to discuss with him my apprenticeship for magecraft,"

"He's ….not here," Kurou's tone was dumbfounded.

"What do you mean he's not here? Where is he?"

"Well he hasn't returned from his trip you see," as if it was obvious.

"What?!" Rin was shocked. She stood up and placed her hands on her waist.

"That fake priest left you here all by yourself for 2 whole weeks all alone?"

"It's not like he left me with nothing"

"I've got enough food to last the month and he said that if I had any problems I should head to your place," Kurou clearly made it sound that an 8 year old living by himself on top of a hill all alone was ok.

"Clearly you should have done that sooner," Rin exclaimed.

"How long is he going to be out?"

"I don't know maybe a month or two I guess"

Rin was astonished. How colder can that fake priest get by leaving his son all alone here? Hell. She doesn't even know whether or not if Kurou goes to school. At least she had her mother back home and her friends at school.

Rin's guilt was flooding in, and here she just wanted to visit and shout at the fake priest and torture his son for all the stress it would relieve her off, but here it seemed the situation has changed. The fake priest's son was nothing like him, he seemed ok, kind, quiet, a bit timid and his comments and presence had this feeling like you could give him all your work and be stress free about it.

Rin mentally smacked herself for what she was about to propose.

"Ughhhhh…. Kotomine-kun, go pack your bags and come over to my place. What in the world was that fake priest thinking, leaving you all alone here, I don't suppose you even go to school like I do?"

"I don't think that's a good idea Tohsaka-san," His head tilted towards the ground, not wanting to look into the eyes of Rin.

"Ughhhhh….. I never said I liked the idea, but as the future Second Owner of Fuyuki it is my obligation and responsibility to make sure that all mages acknowledged by the Tohsakas to be well treated and taken care off," she placed a hand on herself, showing her status as a noble and responsible family of magus.

"And I'm sure my mother would want you to come over, seeing you left all alone here for God knows how much longer"

"But… I don't..," Kurou was never able to finish his sentence as Rin has already pushed him back towards his room.

"No buts. Go and get ready, bring a month loads of clothes and anything else you need"

"Hmmmm. Maybe I could use this someday so that fake priest would be in debt towards me for taking care of you," she thought out loudly.

Kurou went on to pack some of his clothes. He placed it all in a simple black luggage he found lying around the house the other day. He packed mostly his black and dark blue attire. It was a mess in that luggage of his but he really didn't have time reminding himself that he had a dictator wearing the mask of a cute girl waiting for him.

Finished packing, Kurou brought his gear over the living room and nodded towards Rin that he had finished preparing himself.

"Hurry up now. My mum will be worried if we came home late"

They exited through the front door and Kurou locked it with the spare key his father gave him. Then the duo started their journey back to Rin's place.

"So Kotomine-kun, I'm curious, what's your elemental affinity?" Rin asked.

"I'm an Average One," Rin said with a proud voice.

'What? Elemental Affinity? Average One? What was all this?' Kurou thought. He looked at Rin dumbfounded. He knew only two things about magic: one was that he was one and two that you should only talk about magic with other people who knew about it, it was to be kept a secret. Whatever Rin was asking was beyond his knowledge.

"I… really don't know," Kurou said with a bored expression. Rin's expression changed from her happy proud look to one of complete surprise.

"What?!"

"So how were you suppose to learn magecraft!?"

"How am I supposed to compare your skills with mine?" Rin placed a hand on her forehead, clearly disappointed.

"Ummm… That's what I've been trying to tell you earlier; I don't know about magic just yet. I haven't started learning any magecraft, the only thing my dad did teach me was the few lines from the the Baptism Rite."

The Baptism Rite? The Church's Thaumaturgy theory and the most wide-spread known form of thaumaturgy. Its only purpose was to give its bearer's the faith and fortitude to stand against spiritual beings. Compared to her magecraft, it was like comparing a missile against a throwing pebble, not only was the Baptism Rite had only a single purpose and was useless, but it was also tied directly to the user's faith and belief to the Almighty. This meant that if your faith wavered even a little you could consider yourself dead already.

"Ugghhhh….. That fake priest, what kind of teacher is he to teach you such a useless type of magic," unknown to Rin, it was this same useless type of magic that saved her mother. She grabbed Kurou's hand and hurried along the pavement, literally dragging him.

"Hurry up Kotomine-kun, there's so much that you need to catch up on"

"I guess it's up to me to turn you into a first-rate magus," she said proudly.

Kurou was bewildered with the contact he had with Rin, but obliged nonetheless. He made a smile and followed suit, not having anything more to say. He was curious with what Rin wanted to show him.

And that was how the friendship between Kurou Kotomine and Rin Tohsaka started.

…..

Author's Notes:

This is a very long chapter. A staggering 10,000++ words. I never thought I could write so much for just one chapter, but it seemed that once you start writing you can't seem to stop. For a first time writer, I hope I did well. Thanks a lot to the translators of Fate/Zero from Baka-Tsuki for giving me a general idea for this chapter to kick start. **Please review and comment!**

The Funeral: I'll try and be frank with you all; I'm not a Christian, I've never been to any Christian funerals, I do have Christian friends, but I've never been to any of the funerals they might have organized or their funerals for that matter. So I apologize in advance if I got the funeral part wrong. I tried piecing together what little information I could get out from the internet and from reading the translation of Fate/Zero. On a side note any reference concerning Christianity as a whole that I may have gotten wrong i.e. wrong quotes from the bible; please tell me in advance so I can correct it.

Kurou's sixth sense: I initially wanted to stick with the same way Shirou sensed magic: through smell (I don't know if this is canon but among the Fandom it is referred to numerous amount of times, read Fate Heaven's Work by badliar 2312 and From Fake Dreams by Third Fang). But then I thought that wouldn't be cool because then there would be two individuals that were like dogs and it would be funny if Kurou could 'sniff' pain and agony, so I tried thinking of other possibilities. The idea came to me while I was teaching English to a young boy who had mild-schizophrenia. He could hear voices and whispers in his head. I thought that if I coupled it with the curse of Angra Mainyu I can actually create a solid piece of work. Again, apologies and my condolences for all out there who can 'hear' voices in their heads, you guys have an amazing gift!


	3. When Ruby Shines over Fire

Disclaimer: I don't own Fate/Stay Night, Type-Moon does

I've edited the previous chapters so it would show some consistencies with the storyline I'm making. The things I added are important for character building and showing the theme of my story and where it'll be heading, so read the first two chapters first.

….

**Chapter 3: When the Ruby shines over Fire**

**October 1994**

_Dear Kirei Kotomine,_

_I pray that this letter reaches you in the best of conditions. I write this letter concerning your son, Kurou Kotomine, whom I have allowed lodging in the Tohsaka mansion on the insistence of Rin. She inadvertently found him alone in your house and insisted that he stayed for the duration of your work overseas._

_We of the Tohsaka family would be glad to take care of him and provide him with proper lodging while you are away since it is the least we could do to repay the help you have given to our family in the past. On that note, I have enrolled him into the same school as Rin so that he may be able to obtain proper education. Along that line it seems that Rin has taken it upon herself in helping him in the basics of magecraft. I hope that this would not impede on any of your future plans concerning your son's education but Rin has insist since she will eventually be under your apprenticeship once you comeback, so she might as well just teach him some bits of magic. As the mother of Rin, I am glad that she was able to make friends with another magus of her age. It gives me joy to hear her laughter and watch her play around the house with your son._

_I wish the best of luck with your work overseas and pray that all is well._

_With warm regards,_

_Aoi Tohsaka_

…..

…..Somewhere in Italy…

Kirei scanned the letter that he had just received. He was in a hotel room in Italy, his body seemed a bit sore after a week of hunting heretic mages, but he enjoyed every moment of it. The experiments these mages committed was considered taboo in his line of work and the effects of their work was what he wanted to witness before he himself took the pleasure to kill them.

He didn't foresee that the Tohsakas would be so generous in offering him this kind of help, but he wasn't one to disregard potential benefits when it was given freely. If he planned hard enough, he might be able to gain more than just free education for his son. All in all, this just might as well speed things up for what he has in store for his son.

Another letter he received was from the Holy Church which was pertaining Kurou's induction into becoming an Executor for the Church. Even though Kurou was only 8 years old and hasn't shown any promise of becoming an Executor, with the right contacts and Kirei's own personal achievements backing him up, Kirei was able to obtain the license and approval for training Kurou to become one, and in a few years he would be put into trial by the Executor's Department and assessed whether he is fit to become a member of the Church's heretic inquisitors.

He never planned to teach Kurou the basics of magecraft since he himself didn't need it when he became an Executor, but the idea of an Executor that studies and uses magecraft yet his main job is to kill such heretics; Kirei laughed at the irony.

Kirei wasn't one to ignore benefits. His son, Kurou was already starting out late; if he wanted to catch up and become the ultimate weapon for misery then he guessed that magecraft training might just be what he needed. Unlike him, Kirei started his Executor training at an age of 5, following the same footsteps of his late-father, Risei Kotomine and then graduated and gained a license at an age of 10. It was a remarkable feat his father thought. His father wanted him to find purpose and salvation by becoming the 'sword' for the church, but he didn't share the same interest, to him now death and misery is what his heart now desires.

Kirei placed the letter back into the pocket of his robes and started preparing the equipment needed for his next assignment. He could feel the thrill of agony building up in him once more.

…..

…. One week ago…

…Tohsaka Mansion, Fuyuki City…

Rin and Kurou were in the basement of the Tohsaka mansion where Rin's workshop was set up and many of her magic experiments were done. After telling her mother about Kurou's state and gaining her permission whether he could stay over for the time being, Rin quickly dashed for her workshop and loaded Kurou with all the basic knowledge of magecraft.

Rin started with the most basic of thaumaturgy: the concept of Prana which was the magical energy needed to perform thaumaturgy; it is divided into Od, the internal source of magic in an individual and Mana, the external source of magic that magus would usually draw out. Then there was the concept about magical lineage, how magic is transferred from one generation to another and the implantation of Magic Crests onto the next heir.

At this, Rin proudly showed her Magic Crests which were engraved on her left arm. She sent a surge of prana through it which then started to glow light green. It was only for a moment because she was still getting used to the Magic Circuits which was just implanted a month ago and was still unfinished.

"I still have to wait for that fake priest of a father of yours to return so that the next set of Magic Crests can be transplanted, and then I'll be able to show you some real magic," she exclaimed.

"Now let's move on to the most important thing if you want to do magecraft, activating your magic circuits,"

"In order to activate your magic circuits I'll need to run prana through yours first, then you could do it by yourself through the use of a mental trigger"

"What do you mean by running prana through me?" Kurou asked with a worried look. Was this safe? Shouldn't we be asking the adults to help us in this? Is she going to make me explode?

"Don't worry you idiot, I know what I'm doing. I'm just going to do a simple spell on you like reinforcement. Take off your shirt," Rin said in her bossy tone.

"Wha….What?" Kurou sounded bewildered.

"What do you mean 'what'? You heard me, take off your shirt or else I won't be able to open your circuits," her small hands already outstretched.

"Ummm, ok…. I guess," Kurou was still bewildered. Was it really necessary to open his circuits? Kurou obliged still, he didn't know any other way. He took off his black t-shirt and sat with his bare chest towards Rin.

Rin examined Kurou's physical structure. Kurou seemed ok for his age. He wasn't too skinny nor was he too fat. All in all, it seemed like he was physically perfect for someone in his age. 'Well at least that fake priest has been feeding him properly' Rin thought.

"Ummm, Tohsaka-san…" Kurou stumbled in his speech trying to hide the shyness. "Could you….. Could you stop staring at me?" Rin's eyes were darting at Kurou's form.

"You idiot, stop thinking as if I'll do something weird to you, I'm a magus first before I'm a girl, hisssh," Rin shouted back.

'But you are going to do something weird to me' Kurou thought.

"If it wasn't for me you wouldn't even know half the things you know now, so you're the one who owes me"

"Yes Tohsaka-san," Kurou's gaze went down as if he was scolded by a mother.

"Now come here," Rin placed the palm of her hand on Kurou's chest. It tickled first but eventually Kurou was able to get use to Rin's small hand.

"Hmmmm," Rin sounded like she was testing something. Kurou's body was warm, warmer maybe than anyone she knew. Like there was a furnace inside of him that was constantly burning. And then there was his heart that she could feel. This was Rin's way of detecting the presence of magic; in the form of touch or pressure.

"You have a strong heart Kurou," Rin said. A warm smile crept past her face as she said that.

"Thanks," Kurou smiled brightly.

"Ok, now I'm going to start opening your circuits, it's going to tingle a bit"

A bright blue light erupted from Rin's hand. Kurou could feel his muscles tense. His lungs felt like it wanted to burst and his nerves felt like it was going to burn.

As Rin was pouring prana into Kurou, blue sparks started darting over where Rin was holding Kurou's chest. Rin seeing this knew something was wrong. 'What in the world is happening' she thought. Her first instinct was to stop whatever she was currently doing, but it was too late, the blue sparks intensified and both Kurou and Rin were sent tumbling in opposite directions. Rin hit the wall while Kurou was sent flying towards a stack of books which toppled over him.

"What…. what was that?" Kurou said, clearly dazed with what has just happened. He lifted a book that was on his head, placing it aside.

"Idiot, I'm supposed to ask you that," Rin shouted, her back clearly hurting after that landing. She scanned her workshop, making sure nothing was broken or damaged. Everything seems ok, with some books scattered around.

"I tried reinforcing your body but for some funny reason, your body suddenly rejected the spell, like there was some kind of magical resistance"

"And how… How would it be like that?" Kurou asked, clearly dumbfounded.

Rin went into silence. Her hand coming under her chin in a manner of thinking.

"Well my guess is that your magic circuits are already open and your own magic circuits were resisting my spell, or your 'so-called' father did something to you. Either way I think your magic circuits are already opened right now. Idiot, I should have checked first"

Kurou thought for a moment, wondering whether she was calling him or his father an idiot, it hurts either way. Rin came over to Kurou and extended her arm again. Kurou tried to pull back.

"Wa….Wait. Are you going to do that again? After what just happened"

"Quit worrying like an old lady Kotomine-kun. Of course I'm not going to do that again. I'm just going to do structural analysis to check how much circuits you have," Rin firmly placed her hand over Kurou's chest and closed her eyes. Unlike before, nothing came out this time, Rin only kept silent.

A few seconds pass. Then a few minutes. And finally when Kurou felt like he couldn't resist staying still anymore Rin exclaimed, her tone seemed worried added with a bit of confusion.

"Hmmmmm," she said clearly impressed.

"What!? What did you found out?" Kurou's curiosity peaked up.

"You have 27 magic circuits but… but," she stuttered, trying to take in her new finding.

"But?" Kurou seemed worried with what might Rin say.

"Your circuits…. They seemed to be on fire Kotomine-kun, a hot blazing fire," the last phrase she spoke seemed to put her on edge.

"What….. What does that mean really?" Kurou held the courage to hear the answer, judging from the way Rin said it, it wasn't good news. Rin sighed at what she was about to admit.

"Honestly Kotomine-kun, I really don't know," The Tohsaka heir seemed annoyed at the fact she didn't understand one of the most basic things on the workings of magecraft even at her level.

"It's like your circuits are constantly open, flooded with prana, but….. But that can't be possible"

"Why's that Tohsaka-san?" Kurou asked.

"Well, for starters if your circuits are constantly opened then where do you suppose all the prana came from? It's like a perpetual motion generator, your body is constantly giving off energy, not too much that you are noticeable but it is still continuous, in all honesty you should be dead by now"

Rin's explanation stunned Kurou for a moment. 'I'm supposed to be dead?' But the thought wasn't really that far off, he did felt like some part of him died in the fire six months ago. Kurou placed the thought aside, clearly he didn't had the knowledge or the resources to delve deep into it. The only good thing was the fact that he was a mage.

In Rin's mind was something else. 'First this guy did something to my mum and now he has a constant flow of prana'. There was only one way someone could achieve infinite amount of prana and that was through the third magic but it seemed very unlikely in Kurou's case. Again, she came to the conclusion that the fake priest did something and someday when he came back she will wriggle the answers out of him.

"There's also something else I found out," Rin said, brushing off the previous idea.

Kurou looked at Rin, wondering what else was there to tell.

"I think your Elemental Affinity is fire," Kurou was silent at this last statement, not to know what to make of it.

"Like I said, when I scanned your body for the magic circuits I could constantly feel the heat from within your circuits like they were on fire, so I thought…" Rin said as her voice trailed off, she seemed like she was bothered with something.

"What's wrong Tohsaka-san?" Kurou asked worriedly. The music coming from Rin suddenly shifted to sorrow, like a person waiting over the beach for their loved ones.

"No…. It's just that Kotomine-kun, my father also had the element Fire as his elemental affinity," her voice was off a bit, clearly remembering the death of her father.

"So…Sorry about that," Kurou placed a hand over Rin's shoulder. He thought of something to say to cheer her up.

"Come on Tohsaka-san, I'm sure your father was a way greater Fire mage than I'll ever be. And even better, if you help me out with my magecraft it just proves that he WAS the better mage because he taught you and you are helping me, R…Right?"

At the mention off her father being a better mage Rin's expression went back to normal. She looked at Kurou who was making a sheepish smile. 'Damn it Kurou, why do you seem to know what to say'.

"Humphhh, you bet it right he was!" Rin exclaimed, her commanding voice coming back then she punched Kurou in the arm.

"Ouch, what was that for?"

"That was for stealing my father's element"

Kurou smiled widened at this turn of events. 'Well at least she's back to normal, even if she is like a dictator'. A thought suddenly sprang in his mind.

"What's….. What's your elemental affinity Tohsaka-san?"

"Mine?" Rin's face redden at the sudden question.

"I'm an Average One Kotomine-kun," Rin said proudly.

"An Average One?"

"Yep, I have an alignment for all 5 of the basic elements: Water, Earth, Wind, Ether and including yours, Fire. So don't think that you'll ever surpass me because I'll always be four elements more in terms of magecraft than you"

"Now let's move on to getting use performing magecraft"

"I really don't know whether it applies to you because your magic circuits are constantly opened, but let's just try and teach yourself to open up your circuits by yourself"

"You'll need some sort of strong mental trigger, usually it's either something horrifying that it'll force your magic circuits to switch on or it's something that has a deep meaning in you"

Rin walked over to her drawers and took out a box which had small crystals in it.

"Here Kotomne-kun," she handed one of the small crystals to Kurou.

"The most basic of fire spells is the heat spell, essentially you make things hotter Kotomine-kun"

She took a crystal and placed it in the palm of her hands for Kurou to see.

"_Fire_," Rin spoke in German this time, a mental image of a knife piercing her formed in the back of her head. The crystal was glowing red hot from the spell.

"What was that you just spoke?" Kurou asked. Rin opened her eyes back diverting her attention back to Kurou.

"That was an aria, a spell in order to activate the magecraft I wanted to use," Rin explained.

"If you're an adept magus like me, usually single-word arias wouldn't be needed because I've gotten so use to it but for your sake I had to say the aria"

"The aria is needed to give the magus the concentration needed to enact the spell; it's like self-hypnotism you perform on yourself so you focus more on your spells"

"The longer the aria, the stronger the self-hypnotism and that makes the spell stronger. Usually a ten-line aria is used to enact incredible rituals that would transcend into its own miracle"

"So….. So it's similar to the Baptism Rite like my father taught?" Kurou asked.

"Yeah, that's right. If I remember right the Baptism Rite is one of the few ten-line arias that are opened to the public," Rin said.

Kurou thought about this. If the Baptism Rite was a ten-line aria then there must be more to it than just simply giving the reciter spiritual strength. He'll ask his father when he comes back.

"Now you try it Kotomine-kun. Try and focus on something that you think will activate your spell, it needs to be a strong image, something that will force your circuits to activate themselves"

Kurou held the crystal between his palms. 'Ok, he could do this' he thought. 'What kind of mental trigger would he need to activate his magic circuits?' Kurou scanned his mind for something that he thought would provide that trigger. There were a jumble of things that could be his trigger, his father's spicy cooking, maybe the church or maybe it could be the colour black. His eyes darted over Rin and he gulped at what came into his mind. 'No that can't be, I've just met her'. His face started reddening at the sudden thought. In all honesty, there wasn't much to think about since he lost his memory after the fire.

Then the realization struck him: the Fuyuki fire. That might have been the strongest image he could visualize in his head. The screaming, the sounds of horror, the smell of ash in the air, and the _fire_, the all-consuming fire. The image of the fire burned in his mind.

Ready with the strongest mental image in his mind, Kurou braced himself for what he was about to do.

"_Fire,"_ Kurou chanted and to Rin's and Kurou's astonishment the crystal started glowing crimson. Kurou could feel the joy in himself, 'he did it' he thought 'he actually performed magic'.

The feeling of joy was only momentarily as the crystal in his hand started glowing more evenly, it felt warmer and warmer as the glowing increased. 'Ok, what's happening now?' The light emitting from the crystal intensified, then the crystal in Kurou's hand burst into flames and without a second later exploded in his hands with a huge bang.

The room was covered in a thick layer of smoke. The two children were coughing, there didn't seem to be any fire but the room felt awfully hot after the explosion.

"Why did you do that for?" Rin shouted while trying to clear the room from the smoke.

"I told you to only do a heat spell, not explode the whole thing into smithereens; we're in a basement for heaven's sake! What are you, an idiot?"

"I'm sorry….. I'm so sorry, I promise it was an accident," Kurou said apologetically, his head bowing several times at the same time.

"I couldn't control what was happening and the next moment it blew in my hands," his voice was full of apology and guilt over what he had done. Astonishingly, Rin laughed at the sight of Kurou apologizing over and over again.

'Ok did I just say something stupid?'

"You birdbrain" Rin exclaimed with a smile on her face.

"Stop apologizing over and over again, it makes you seem like an idiot," the laughter was pure and innocent that Kurou couldn't stop smiling himself.

"Here, let me take a look at your hands"

Kurou showed his hands to Rin, amazingly even after the explosion Kurou's hand weren't burnt from the fire, only dust and ash covered it.

"Well that's surprising. At least you're not hurt," Rin inspected Kurou's hand. Holding his hands in her small palms, looking for any signs of bruises. Rin was carefully looking over Kurou's hands, like as if there was something she was searching for. 'What in the world is so interesting about my hands?' Kurou couldn't stop peering over his hands to catch a glimpse of the young brunette who was holding it. Whenever he thought he was staring so long he quickly lowered his gaze. Rin seemed to be trying to 'feel' his hands, like there was something only she could sense by touching them.

"Kotomine-kun…." Her words drifted, trying to find the right thing to say.

In that instant, the door to Rin's workshop opened and there in a wheelchair was Rin's mother, Aoi Tohsaka.

"Rin dear, dinner's almost ready," Aoi's sentence slowed down after each word, taking in what she was seeing. Her eyes widening at the two and what position they were in. There in the basement, her daughter, Rin, was holding hands with a young boy and he wasn't even wearing a shirt.

Rin and Kurou quickly let go of each other's hands. Rin's face turned red while Kurou tried lowering his gaze, hiding his face from view.

'Uh-Oh'

….

… Later that night…

The sun has set by the time dinner was served. At first Kurou was reluctant to take a bite at the food offered by Aoi especially after what had just happened. He has already put on his shirt, yet he still feels embarrass at what has just happened, but Aoi insisted that he ate as well since he was a guest in the house. Whilst Rin kept on bullying him to not be scardy-cat and just have dinner with them, Aoi was much warmer and more motherly in regards of treating him.

Dinner was to Kurou's surprise very good if the cooking of Rin's mother was anything to compare too. After he took a bite and tasted the food, he straight away gobbled up the rest savouring how delicious it was compared to the curry his dad would make for him or the food he usually buys for himself at the neighbouring shops.

"So how's the food Kurou-chan?" Aoi asked with a warm smile on her face. She seemed healthier from the last time they have met, maybe due to the fact that her mental illness was completely healed and seemed to be non-existent. Even so, she was still in a wheel-chair because her spine was dislocated in several places. Whenever she tried reaching for some food over the table, Rin would stand up and help her get it.

"It's…. It's delicious obasan," Kurou replied with a wear-down tone. He didn't know how to reply to the motherly figure that was addressing him. He hope he didn't sound too rude or sounded like he was overly enjoying himself with the wonderful meal he was given.

"It's delicious?!" Rin question in an angry tone. She sat at the head of the table with her mother Aoi at her right and Kurou at her left. She made a face that showed she disliked the answer given by Kurou.

"You almost starve back at your home and we had to save you and the best you could compliment us is that it was delicious!"

"Rin, please don't talk like that to Kurou-san," Aoi said to Rin. Aoi faced Kurou, whose head was already tilted down; he seemed to be in fear of the new Tohsaka heir.

"She doesn't mean that Kurou-chan," Aoi tried reassuring Kurou. Kurou gave a solemn smile at the reply. To be honest, Kurou didn't know what to make of the new Tohsaka heir. At one moment she was angry at him and at another she was trying to help him. It was so utterly confusing that he didn't know if Rin wanted him there or not.

"It's…. It's ok obasan," Kurou replied back. He tried thinking of something better to say.

"I'm grateful for the way you've treated me even though I'm a complete stranger, I'll….. I'll try and not be a nuisance to you and Rin, I'll even try and help out with what I can to make up for it," Kurou spoke; his words were surrounded with apology.

"I'm….. I'm really grateful that Rin-san was able to teach me magecraft, it might be an understatement if I said that it was enlightening because my knowledge in magecraft is zero compares to her," Kurou pointed towards Rin and bowed politely in appreciation. His eyes were gazing towards the floor not looking into the eyes of either Rin or Aoi.

Rin's face started lighting bright red at Kurou's apology.

"Hmmphh, well I am the more educated one in magecraft so I guess it is my responsibility to help out a third-rate magus like you," Rin exclaimed proudly. A bright smile lighten on her face as she said it.

"Talking about education, Kurou-chan, do you attend school like Rin does?" Aoi asked, a worried expression came across her face, showing her concern on the whether Kurou was being neglected from formal education. Kurou, looked down as the question was passed to him. He moved his foot in circles thinking of something to say.

"Wel… Well, actually obasan, I have never been to school before," Kurou explained nervously.

"Is that so? Hmmmmm," Aoi hummed deep in thought.

"If that's the case why don't you go to school with Rin? I'm sure you'll love it there since Rin herself was able to make a lot of friends," Aoi nodded at her own idea. Happy that another magus the age of her daughter might also be attending the same school with her.

"We could go out tomorrow morning to buy you the uniform," she continued. In Aoi's mind she was fantasizing the idea of taking care of a young boy and sending him to school like as if he was her own.

"I…. I really don't think that would be necessary. I really don't want to be a bother," Kurou said.

"Nonsense, since your father is abroad it would be best that you'd stayed with us and had proper formal education just like Rin. I'm sure Rin would love to have you around and help you at school," Aoi's smile brightens even further at the last statement.

"What?!" Rin shouted in shock.

"Wh…. Why do I have to help him out? He's already owes our family a lot"

"Now, now Rin. Since for the time being Kurou-chan will be staying in our house, he will be our guest and you should treat him as such, and as such you should also help him out with him at school since he is quite new at it," Aoi explained to her daughter. Her face still holding that motherly smile.

Rin crossed her hands around her chest. She didn't looked happy that she had to take care of Kurou while she goes to school. Still, the idea that another magus her age was attending the same school with her was comforting. At least she wouldn't feel like a loner.

"Urghhh, ok okasan, I'll help him this once," Rin said.

"Thank you Rin,"Aoi said cheerfully, happy at the outcome of their conversation. Aoi gazed at the grandfather clock in her house. It was almost past 10, that means sleep time for the children.

"Well, it's late already and I'm sure you are tired after all the activities you did today Kurou"

"Rin could you please show Kurou to the guest room upstairs"

"Yes, Okasan," Rin said, following the orders of her mother.

"If you need anything Kurou my room is the one next to the kitchen," Aoi said while pointing towards where the kitchen was. Kurou was confused for a moment at the room arrangements. Why would Aoi be sleeping downstairs? He dismissed it as a ridiculous question, because it was apparent that Aoi wouldn't be able to climb the stairs in her condition. Still, he felt unease at the fact that he slept upstairs while Aoi, the owner of the house slept below him.

"Come on Kotomine-kun," Rin ordered Kurou. Kurou went to take his luggage which was in the living room and followed suit behind Rin, up the stairs of the Tohsaka mansion.

Up the stairs, there was another living room but smaller than the one downstairs, it was more suited for the leisure of the family than for the more elegant one downstairs that was made to bring in guest. A little further was a long corridor. To its left was windows overlooking the grounds and the gardens of the Tohsaka mansion and at the right were two doors, supposedly heading to the bedrooms and another door at the far end of the corridor. At the first door to the right Rin stopped.

"This is where you'll be staying," she announced. Kurou trailed behind her, carrying the luggage he brought from the church.

"This is the guest room, it hasn't been used since Saku….." Rin went silent at the last words she said. Her expression became sad and she almost looked like she was about to cry.

"Since?" Kurou asked. At Kurou's question, Rin snapped out of her delusion. 'Now's not the time to think about that, she'll be fine'.

"No never mind," she stated, trying to snap out from her previous state.

"It's just the guest room and we haven't been using it for quite some time because we rarely had visitors over or they would usually sleep downstairs," Rin explained. She opened the door, her body tense as if bracing for some kind of unexpected surprise.

Disappointingly, there wasn't.

Rin stepped into the room and Kurou followed behind with his luggage. He placed his baggage on the king-size bed and looked around the neat and tidy room he'll be staying while his father is out abroad. The room was way bigger than his and the furniture was to his assumption way more expensive than what was in his own room. It was decorated in an English style bedroom with a small chandelier at the top and bright yellow curtains hanging over the window. He could see the mansion gates and the road overlooking the mansion. There was also a built in bathroom to his room. One thing that was peculiar about this room was that it seemed like it was purposefully left untouched, like as if someone once stayed here and the residents were waiting for that person to return. Even so, it seemed that they didn't wanted the person to come back because it seemed like nobody has been into this room.

Rin let out a sigh of relief at how the room was empty and void of any inhabitants.

"My room is the one next door, but don't bother to wake me up in the middle of the night or else I'll jinx you for disturbing my sleep," Rin quickly exited the room and closed the door forcefully.

Kurou settled his stuff aside and changed into his pyjamas. He lay on the king-size bed and gazed at the ceiling. He was trying to figure out what he had gotten himself into actually, it was all so much and all too quick. There was Rin, beautiful to his eyes yet easily tempered and prone to shouting at him, there was her mother Aoi who welcomed him as if he was her own and then there was the magecraft he had just learned and the knowledge that he was a magus and had the elemental affinity of fire.

Was this how a mage's family would be? He asked. Hell, was this like how it felt to have a family? Would they accept him as some guest or treat him as a close relative?

These thought swirl in Kurou's mind and before long sleep overtook him.

…

…. A few days later…

… Rooftop, Shukugawa Gakuin Private Elementary School…

Kurou sat with his legs bent close to his chest, his hands pulling his legs closer to himself. His eyes were closed as if he was trying to forget something. He sat on the roof of the Shukugawa Gakuin Private elementary school. As a standard, all of Japans schools rooftop must be fenced to make sure students are protected from falling over.

He wore the emerald green uniform of the school complimented with the green shorts. Kurou's face was bruised a bit and he had a bleeding nose. He used his sleeve to wipe away the blood from his face.

At first he was ok with the idea of going to school with Rin. However he wasn't prepared with the fact that there were hundreds of students who also attended the school. He tried giving himself some courage when he first entered the classroom and introduced himself. Thankfully he thought, Rin was also in the same class with him.

He tried enduring the class with all the people staring at him asking him questions. As he sat down in his seat, he could hear almost everyone's worry. He could hear their worries over some lost possession, the fact that their grades weren't high enough, some bully trying to steal their money, parents shouting at each other. He almost felt like he was going insane with all the sounds going in his head.

And that wasn't the worst part. Since he didn't like socializing and is too timid to talk to anyone even Rin because she is usually surrounded by her friends, people see him as some kind of freak boy who doesn't like making friends. This made him a prime target for bullying. On the second day of school some seniors started bullying him because they said he was a freak. Kurou didn't attacked back since he was stagnated in fear even as they kicked him.

When class resumed, the sounds of people's misery was so overwhelming that he couldn't stand it any longer he stood up and shouted in anger.

"JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!"

Everyone in his class stared at him in confusion. The class became still and silent. Even the teacher was stunned at what just happened. Rin who previously was focusing on the class and her textbook now looked at Kurou with a worried expression. Kurou's expression was pale and he was sweating in fear, his hands over his ears.

Kurou now noticing that everyone was staring at him quickly dashed out of the classroom, finding a place where nobody could find him.

"Kurou-kun, what's wrong Kurou-kun?"

The teacher called his name but he was already gone. Rin after watching and absorbing as the scene unfold, placed her book down and followed suit, looking for where he might have been.

"Rin-san, where are you going!?" the teacher called but she was also gone by then. Her face worried.

And now Kurou was, on the rooftop. He was continuously muttering the Baptism Right and paragraphs from the bible so that he may hold on to what little sanity he had left. The rooftop was quieter than the other school grounds, but the voices were still locked in memory.

"_The Lord is my __**strength**__ and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will prepare Him a habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt Him."_ Kurou continued muttering the paragraph from Exodus.

His hands were shaking after the aftershock of what he had just gone through.

'So much for having a good time in school,' he thought. He wondered back, why in the world did he go to school in the first place? Was it because he wanted to feel some normalcy? Maybe be like other kids? That already seem almost impossible, from the very first moment, he already knew that he wasn't the same like everyone else. A 'freak' just like what the bullies called him. Just like what Rin called him.

He sighs at that last thought. Was it because of her? What did he saw in her? It would have been laughable that Kurou had a chance to make friends with cute Rin Tohsaka. She was surrounded by all of her other friends that holding a conversation or staying close might be utterly impossible, not to mention he was a boy and she was a girl so their interest might be totally different. Even till today, Rin seemed to be treating him like some punching bag to brag her magecraft and never really considering him as her friend, neither was he really learning much because as Rin would put it, he had zero talent as a mage.

Yes, Kurou thought, he was deluding himself. He was truly alone.

His gaze went down at the realization he had just formed. He buried his face between his knees and chest and started breathing slowly.

His hearing was interrupted by the sound of perseverance and perfection. Someone was coming his way and he didn't want to find out who it was.

The door to the rooftop opened slowly as not to make any creaking noises and there walking as elegant as ever yet with a worried expression was Rin Tohsaka.

She walked slowly towards Kurou who was on the far side of the rooftop; his back was overlooking the scene. She moved with slow strides as not to alarm Kurou of her presence. She could see the sweat on Kurou's brow and how his body was shivering with fear. Once she was right in front of him, Rin crouched down, bending her knees so she was on eye level with Kurou.

"Ko..Kotomine-kun, are you ok?" she asked, worry filled her voice.

Kurou looked up to see Rin staring at him in worrisome.

"Wha….What do you want?!" Kurou said, he was trying to ignore Rin. Putting aside the fact that Kurou was trying to ignore her, Rin went closer.

"Why in the world are you up here alone Kotomine-kun? The teacher was worried about the stunt you just did in class so I came looking for you," Rin announced.

"What happened back there really?"

The look of worry on the Tohsaka heir was a genuine one, Kurou sigh as he was defeated by the brilliant sight of the magus in front of him. He straightened his head and looked over Rin, ready to spill what was bothering him.

"I… I can hear them Tohsaka-san," Kurou went on.

"Them?"

"The voices in my head," Kurou pointed.

"I…. I don't know how but ever since the fire six months ago I could hear voices, sounds in my head. It's different from person to person, like I can hear what they are feeling, their strengths, their memories, their experiences, but the loudest of the sounds are their misery"

'I… I can hear people's misery Tohsaka-san," Kurou explained with a defeated expression on his face. Rin listened attentively, not saying anything to the bizarre ailment that Kurou has.

"It screams in my head like a hornet's nest, the wails of people getting hurt, the sorrows when they lost something precious, the screams and cries when something bad befell them"

"…. And when there's so much people, then there's only so much that you could handle," Rin said, concluding Kurou's statement. She gazed down as if in understanding. She was now sitting next to Kurou in the same manner.

"Is…. Is that the reason why you hold yourself up in the church? That your father never sent you to school or you never socialize or try to make friends?" Rin asked. Kurou nodded a little, his gaze far out.

"Yep, that's the reason…. Why I don't have…. Any friends," each statement Kurou made was heavy especially the last one.

And that's when it hit Rin. Since their meeting, she never once told Kurou that she could be his friend. Was it because she thought that he was somebody who was another mage invading her territory or the fact that their first meeting ended up in her punching him or the fact that her judgement of Kurou's father clouded her view on the fake priest's son? She felt guilty at how she was treating Kurou.

In all honesty, Kurou was nothing like his father. He was a bit shy and timid, but he was silent and attentive to whatever she had to say and whenever he spoke it was something that she needed to hear. Rin remembered back the time Kurou commented on her father being a better magus and then telling her that she was definitely a better mage. The thought redden her cheeks. Kurou was always apologizing for the things he did, like he thought he was the one behind all the problems that had happened. Rin filled herself with courage to say what she wanted to.

"That's… that's not true Kotomine-kun, you're not alone, I'm your friend," Rin swelled up. She was almost biting her lips when she said the last statement.

Kurou looked back at her in confusion, as if he didn't heard her properly.

"Wha… what?"

"Like I said, I'm your FRIEND Kotomine-kun," Rin exclaimed, her voice increasing to reassure him.

"For the longest time I thought that maybe my life would be hold back into keeping secrets about my lineage and the fact that I was a mage, but then you showed up and it just means that there are other people here that also has secrets like mine and it means I'm not the only one who has to go through it all," Rin finished her explanation, she looked up into the sky, a smile forming on her face, a smile of gratitude.

Kurou's expression was in utter confusion, he didn't know to make heads or tails of what Rin just said. Rin seeing his expression then went on.

"Come on now, we have to make it official!" Rin said excitedly. Rin stood up and grabbed Kurou so he was standing up as well. She stretched her hand in a handshake manner.

"Ho… how do we make it official?"

"Just give me your hand and repeat after me," the excitement stemming from Rin was infectious, Kurou couldn't help himself but form a small smile.

"From this day forth. I, Rin Tohsaka will be friends with Kurou Kotomine, we promise to take care of one another and make sure to be there when the other needs us"

"I…I, Kurou Kotomine will be friends with Rin Tohsaka, and… and promise to take care of one another and make sure to be there when the other needs us," Kurou stuttered, he was still finding it hard to believe at what has just transcribed.

"There, now it's official," Rin let go of Kurou's hand and a bright smile formed on her face with her eyes closed.

"Tha… thanks Tohsaka-san," Kurou smiled more at the expression given by Rin. He was still having a hard time believing on what just have happened, but he guess that at least that smile was sincere enough.

"No, you idiot, friends don't call by that name anymore, Kurou-san,"Rin's expression turn to one that was almost scolding.

"You call me by my proper name now, only then will everyone else know that we are friends because we call each other by our first name"

"Ha…Hai," Kurou said, making an apologetic bow at the statement. His expression light up even further, because it meant that Rin was actually serious about them being friends. Anymore doubts about Rin's character was now gone.

"Now come on Kurou, it's class right now and the teacher will be worried if we're not back soon," Rin grabbed Kurou's hand and started heading to the stairs. But then she stopped midway, as if something had just hit her.

"Wha…What's wrong Rin?" Kurou asked confused at the sudden stop.

"No, it's just that Kurou, you said that you hear sounds and voices from people around you," she held her breath to ask her question.

"What is the sound you hear when you are close to me?" Rin sounded worried, maybe she was worried that the cost of their friendship would be Kurou going through daily mental torture.

"Wel… Well I don't know how to tell you the sound, but I can hum it for you," Kurou took a deep breath. Rin went silent as she attentively listen to how Kurou was about to hum the sound that emitted from her.

And then he hummed, he tried emulating the sounds of drums, trumpets and pianos that he came to associate Rin with. It was music that would build up from the beginning and end at a dramatic note.

"That's….. That's beautiful Kurou," Rin said, tears were almost forming from her eyes.

…..

Author's Notes:

I apologize for the really long wait, but when you start having summer vacations you tend to get distracted from everything else. But the good news is that I've already gotten a solid plot to the story I'm about to write and that means less time to wait for the next chapter.

Writing Rin's character is tough, and I needed her to build Kurou's character if I'm going to run this story good. But now I think I have a solid foundation to their character building.

Generally, the maximum time I'll take to write a chapter is a month. Please review and comment. For those of you who are wondering where Shirou is, next chapter is where he comes in.

Next chapter: **When The Minerals are Unearthed **


	4. When the Minerals are Unearthed

Disclaimer: again, I don't own any of Type-moon's work, only the OCs and the ideas I put into writing.

Thanks to the review from SoulBlack, I've decided to state the timeline and place setting of each chapter so you readers could get a better grasp of the age of the characters, how long the events occur and where the events are happening.

…..

**Chapter 4: When the Minerals are Unearthed **

**February 1995.**

...Emiya Residence, Fuyuki City….

Kiritsugu Emiya is a man of many lives. In a life he had 20 years ago everything was mundane, boring and ordinary as the old folks may call it, but it was a peaceful life that he had with his father and his 'then' crush, a girl name Shirley.

It was however a life that was full of lies and betrayal. His father, Norikata Emiya, the fourth head of the Emiya family, had a Sealing Designation which explains the death of his mother a year after he was born and their constant traveling. He and his father settled in Alimango Island for a year and that's where he met Shirley who was hired as his father's assistance in his 'damned' research.

'The damned research', 'was it all worth it?'

His family specialized in a type of magecraft called 'Time Manipulation'. It is the ability to separate the passage of time inside a designated space from the "flow of time" in the outside world. The Emiya's magecraft works by accelerating or slowing the flow of time inside a Reality Marble free from the world's interference. Thorough investigation lead his father to the realization that a Bounded Field that was minimized until resistance was almost zero could allow the flow of time to be accelerated without any limit. He believed that reaching the Root was possible, right before observing the universe's end. While the theory was promising, such an experiment would have required hundreds of years to finish, leading him to resolve the issue of life span by exploring methods to become a Dead Apostle.

That's when his father decided that Shirley's worth was already losing its essence. In order to obtain immortality through becoming a Dead Apostle, Noritaka created a potion that would turn the drinker into a Dead Apostle and the first person who drank the potion was Shirley.

'Curiosity killed the cat' as his father puts it. Shirley, ever so brilliant, naïve and curious with his father's research drank the potion and essentially turned into a Dead Apostle along with the other residents of the island.

And that's when Kiritsugu's peaceful life in Alimango Islamnd is shattered into a million pieces. The Island was overrun by both the Mage's Association Enforcers and the Holy Church's Executors. One faction bent on keeping magecraft a secret and that any experiment done in its name doesn't go into extreme proportions, another faction bent into killing all those deem as heretics which includes Dead Apostles and Vampire-creating-mages. They did their job as swiftly and as efficiently as possible. 'Cleansing', that's what the Church Executors would call it, the Island needed to be cleansed from 'heretics' that would defile this world.

During that time he met Natalia Kaminski. She was a freelancer and part-time Enforcer; having saved him from the Church Executors' purging, she wanted information regarding the magus responsible, Kiritsugu's father.

He quickly returned back to where he and his father's hidden residence were and confronted his father concerning his research. Not being able to bear it out any longer, Kiritsugu shot down his father as he was planning their escape.

In the end, as it was seen by Natalia, the only person who actually prevented and made sure this incident didn't escalated any further weren't the Executors or the Enforcers, but it was Noritaka's own son, Kiritsugu.

And so out of some form of thanks, Natalia took Kiritsugu with her.

Kiritsugu's adventures didn't end there. He realized that what he went through during his childhood was common occurrence in the world. Around the world, mages left and right were committing atrocities that were beyond forgiveness, they would commit murder, defile, destroy and dehumanize all in the name of their research. So Kiritsugu took the initiative upon him and 'asked' Natalia to teach him how to become a freelancer liker herself. He didn't know what he was getting himself into. Was it guilt on his part because he stumbled when killing his father? Was it because he couldn't bear to witness another massacre? Or was it because of Shirley and how she begged Kiritsugu to put her down yet he himself hesitated to do so which caused the whole island to turn into mindless zombies?

Whatever the reason, whatever was the driving force or the tipping point that changed Kiritsugu from the hesitant cheerful boy who once wished to become a 'hero' as Shirley would put it into a cold-blooded 'ends-justifies-the-means' killer, Kiritsugu has taken the job pretty seriously. Natalia trained him not only in Magecraft, but in tracking, assassination, and all types of weaponry. At first, he only got in Natalia's way, but after years of training he rose up the ladder, becoming both her partner and equal.

Kiritsugu saw Natalia as a mother figure, albeit one that teaches her son how to become an efficient killer rather than a politician or an engineer like what most mothers' would want their child to become. It was during those tender years that he finally found somebody that would actually accept him as who he would want to be and not just because they were related by blood.

And just in a blink of an eye, Natalia was taken away from him and the worst part was that it was by his own hands.

He didn't have any other choice. He had to kill her or else, or else, or else more people would die, and that was something he couldn't allow to happen especially after what happened in Alimango Island.

Kiritsugu journeyed back through memory lane. Natalia was aboard an Airbus A300 jumbo jet, their target was the "Demonic Bee User", Odd Borzak. There was a rumor that this designated magus was successful in creating Dead Apostles and could manipulate "Demonic Ghoul Bees" under his control to use poison stingers to increase the amount of Ghouls under his power. Natalia confirmed this rumor first hand. Finding the man on board wasn't hard, by hacking the Airbus Company's mainframe and obtaining a seat directly behind Odd Borzak, Natalia made a quick job of shooting him through his seat with a silencer.

However as it seemed, things weren't that simple. Even dead, Borzak proved to be a nuisance.

Ghoul Bees started burrowing out of Borzak's body. With him dead nothing could control them and in no time everyone on the plane was infected and turned into mindless ghouls.

In a last ditch effort, Kiritsugu shot down the plane while Natalia was still on board.

'For me too, I really did think of you as my mother'

'I was happy not to be alone'

'I was happy not to be alone', Kiritsugu thought. The irony was that the life he chose was really lonely.

The death of Natalia wasn't the end of it, soon two more people that were close to him, that made him 'happy not to be alone' had to be sacrificed. First, his partner Maiya, then his wife, Irisviel.

They were pursuing the Holy Grail, an object that could accomplish things that were almost impossible, a magic that was so strong that it could break through Akasha itself, a miracle that could grant any wish the owner desires whether it be good or bad, and at that instance, at that very moment, Kiritsugu wanted, needed, desired, dreamed it so badly so that the death of those closest to him wasn't entirely in vain.

It seemed however, that fate had a cruel way of playing a joke on those that wanted to save the world.

The Holy Grail was founded to be corrupted. All the fighting, all the long planning and the killing and the destruction that Kiritsugu had to put up for one last time was all for nothing.

And that's when he realized, the same thing he realized but forgotten while he was a kid, while he was back in Alimango Island, during the time he was saved by Natalia, that's when he realized that the world was filled with evil and cruelty and it all stemmed from the pursuit of magecraft and magic.

Magic in its very essence was a path that brought misery, Kiritsugu thought. Ask the people that were killed, the family's that were ripped apart, the homes that were demolished, ask Gaia and Alaya themselves what would be the reason they would have to bring forth 'Judgment Day' to humanity, what is the reason all evil could have existed: magic.

And that was when Kiiritsugu currently was presented a tedious problem.

Kiritsugu was scrambling in his study. He currently resides in an old fashion Japanese house located of Miyama in Fuyuki City that could easily house a dozen tenants. His home included a very old storehouse built on the edge of the yard and even a dojo. But even with the big space, there were only two people living here, himself and his son, Shirou.

During the fire that ravaged Fuyuki, Kiritsugu found Shirou and adopted him. He told Shirou the small fact that he was a magus and that he could do magic, or the politically correct term, magecraft.

Shirou, the ever so innocent boy he was believed him, and found a hero figure in Kiritsugu. Before long Shirou was constantly asking Kiritsugu about how to perform magecraft because as he would put it 'wanted to become a hero like him'.

Kiritsugu already said no to that idea the very moment he heard it from Shirou at the same time trying to hold his anger and frustration. How could he accept it? After all he's been through, after all he's gone through, after all he's lost, the loved ones that he had lost, here and now, the only person he might ever be able to truly save and care about wanted to dabble in the forbidden arts of magecraft.

That conversation didn't ended well nor did it bode well for Shirou whose eyes showed the fierce determination he always had when he envisioned to become a hero.

'Why?! Why can't I be a hero like you?!' Shirou's begging echoed in his mind.

Shirou's determination knew no bounds. A few days after that discussion, Shirou sneaked into his study to search books pertaining magecraft. He took a few books that Kiritsugu still had that were about the basics of magecraft and bounded fields. How he did it was beyond Kiritsugu, but considering that Kiritsugu wasn't really a mage and he was careless in not locking the door to begin with, it wouldn't surprise him that the boy sneaked into his study while he was taking a nap on the veranda in front of their home.

Kiritsugu caught Shirou red-handed reading the books while he was in his room. The way he was caught was what made Kiritsugu furious. After coming back inside for dinner, Kiritsugu realized that Shirou hasn't prepared dinner yet, so Kiritsugu went to his room assuming he was asleep after a tired day at school. Kiritsugu took a peak into his room only to find Shirou wringing in pain on the floor with the books opened and spread across the floor.

Kiritsugu quickly panicked and went over Shirou. He placed one of his hands on Shirou's forehead and another gripping his left arm to calm him down. He was burning up. Kiritsugu quickly scanned the pages and to see what did the boy do to be in such a condition.

Magic Circuit Activation, the titles of the pages said.

Kiritsugu's eyes widened in disbelief. It seemed as if the boy was trying to attempt to open his magic circuits by turning his nerves into artificial magic circuits. Just great. Among the many methods his son wanted to activate his magic circuits it had to be the most dangerous one. Essentially, by converting the nerves into artificial circuits, the prana it would produce would jump start a mages own magic circuits thus activating their magic circuits, like starting a car. The danger was that if it was done without supervision or the user was careless in some way in turning the vertebra nerves into makeshift circuits, the mage could be crippled for life. His son, Shirou could be crippled for life.

Kiritsugu panicked. He quickly placed Shirou gently into his futon and went back into his room to take the necessary medication he hoped would help. While walking back to Shirou's room, Kiritsugu prayed that the damage done wasn't permanent.

'Please don't make my efforts saving him in vain'.

Kiritsugu placed a wet towel over Shirou's forehead to keep his fever down and urged him to take the pills he had.

A few hours past and gratefully Shirou's temperature started subsiding. Kiritsugu sighed at his efforts, thankful to whichever God that was up there making sure his son was still alive. Even so the worst has been diverted; Kiritsugu still had a hard time believing what he had just witnessed. Not the part that Shirou would try to sneak into his study that surprised him, it was that his attempts to try and create artificial circuits actually worked. The thought dawned over the Magus Killer.

This only meant one thing; Shirou was a magus like him.

No he wouldn't allow it. He wouldn't allow his only son, the only person he was able to save go on the path of a magus, not after what his own path of a magus have brought him. And with Shirou's mentality and determination to be a hero like him, he doesn't want to imagine what he would do in the future if he really did learn magic.

Kiritsugu had a long talk after that incident with Shirou, telling him the dangers of magic and how he could have gotten limp or worse killed. Even in his state of anger, Shirou couldn't put aside the fact that what his dad was telling him was that he actually had the potential to become a mage, if anything that did to Shirou's spirit, it only pushed his determination further. Kiritsugu scolded himself for carelessly letting out that piece of information. Now the boy will never lose hope.

And surely the boy tried again to break into his study to obtain those books. Kiritsugu was prepared this time; he locked his door and caught Shirou trying to unlock the door. Twice Shirou tried and twice he was caught with another scolding from Kiritsugu. It wasn't that he was angry or hated Shirou for attempting to learn magecraft, he was just afraid, truly horribly afraid of what might happen to him if he did.

What would happen if Shirou got wind of his own exploits and tried to emulate it? Would he sacrifice those closest to him just to follow some brand of 'justice'? Would he become an empty shell like himself after effortlessly trying to do the impossible?

He couldn't, wouldn't allow that.

And now after contemplating the thought, Kiritsugu was furious.

Shirou has tried again to sneak into his study and this time he was successful. Kiritsugu doesn't know how in the world did Shirou managed to sneak into his room, unlock his door and search his study for the books he took the first time, all under Kiritsugu's nose. Kiritsugu remembered locking the door, the key to his door was in his pocket, so the only explanation was that it happened miraculously, it was magic.

Kiritsugu quickly exited his study to find Shirou, he searched the whole house starting from his room. He didn't know how long the boy had the books on magecraft, but any longer would put him in more danger.

'Where in the world is he?' Kiritsugu thought.

He searched the kitchen, went over to the guest rooms and the other empty rooms in their house, Kiritsugu even searched in each and every single bathroom in his house (there were four in total) just to make sure he didn't left any stone unturned, and astoundingly Shirou was not to be found in any of those places.

Kiritsugu was exhausted. As he walked across the hallway that attached the main building with the guest room, Kiritsugu chuckled. Who would have thought that taking care of a child would be hard? If his clients and acquaintances got wind that the great 'Magus Killer' was being wear down by a nine-year-old boy their laughter would never end, still he wasn't really in the best shape so comparing him to his previous state wasn't fair, and further on, the life of a Magus Killer was far behind him, now he had to focus on taking care of his son and that means making sure he doesn't do anything dangerous.

While he was scurrying over the hallway, Kiritsugu caught a glimpse of the building outside, the dojo. Better take a look there as well.

Kiritsugu went outside and went over to the dojo, he was half hoping that Shirou was there, it was one of his favorite places since the teenage girl, Taiga Fujimura started coming over and practice her kendo. Shirou would watch her brandish the shinai in her hands and often ask whether he could have a try.

Kiritsugu slided the door to the dojo and peered around the place. Empty.

'Now where is that boy?' Kiritsugu taught. Where else could he have gone to? He checked everywhere and still no sign of Shirou. Kiritsugu looked backed to his house and sighed. Then he saw the old shed at the far corner of the lot of his home. There were small faints of light emitting from the shed windows. He started walking towards the shed, not hurrying his steps because he was tired and he knew that there was no other place Shirou could be.

…

…..A few hours ago…..

Shirou lay on his stomach on a mattress in the old shed. Flashlight in his left hand and the book he so eagerly wanted to research being held by his right hand. The flashlight he held was illuminating the pages of the book he held upright. His eyes beamed at the texts that were written on the old sorcerer's book.

Shirou felt a bit guilty. He did the one thing that would make his dad angry; he slipped into his father's study and took the magecraft book. As soon as he woke up that morning, Shirou quickly got up and quietly tiptoed to his father's study. He listened to his father's room, assuring himself that his old man was sound asleep in his room. Bless his luck.

Shirou already had everything planned out, the two times he tried before failed but today, today he will succeed in getting what he wanted. During the first time he attempted to sneak back into his father's study after he was caught, he found out that the door to the room was locked. So Shirou tried opening the lock using a pair of tweezers like what he saw on television and how the superheroes he read in his comics would do. It seemed simple enough.

He tried it out for long hours; inserting the pair of tweezers into the lock randomly and trying hard to click open the door. After a few minutes he didn't succeed and to make things worse, he was caught by his father. He tried a second time and as it seemed, his luck ran out as the tweezers he brought broke while Shirou was attempting to open the lock, and thus his only method to obtain the book he wanted was now gone.

Or was it?

As Shirou went back and scanned through the superhero stories he had, he noticed that the heroes seemed to always be able to pull something off, as if it was magic. And that's when it hit him. He was a mage, so it was only natural that he should use magic to open the door.

He didn't know how he did it, it just happened, like he willed it to happen. He placed his hand over the doorknob and focused his concentration on it. He felt silly, weren't mages supposed to say something to perform a spell? Well, he didn't know any spells so anything might do, the important thing he told himself was that he needed to will it, like the first time he tried doing magic.

Shirou prepared for what would be the feeling of a hot iron rod burning through his skin and then muttered:

"Trace on"

The words came naturally to him, like it was some kind of habit and surely the feeling of hot iron piercing his skin and bones came. Shirou mentally screamed to himself, he clasped his mouth shut so he wouldn't shout and wake up his father. The feeling of performing magecraft was really painful, but Shirou was determined, if his father could go through it and become a hero, so could he. Shirou resisted the pain and tried getting his head back on track. The pain lessened a bit as he brought back his composure, but what was really important was whether he succeeded or not.

Shirou turned the doorknob slowly, ready to dash back to his room if some kind of alarm rang. Surprisingly, the handle turned and the door was opened. Shirou thanked his luck for there was no alarm going off, funny how there were always alarms in the comics.

Shirou couldn't contain his excitement when the door opened. Now he only needed to find the thaumaturgy book and start becoming a mage and finally a hero. He almost stumbled on the floor as he entered the room but Shirou quickly straightened himself up before he fell. Phew. If he fell and his old man woke up because of that he would be in big trouble.

Shirou scanned through the drawers and the shelves, his eyes then found the book he longed for. It was placed on the top most shelf of his father's study and was higher than even Shirou could manage, but he wouldn't give up, if anything this was just another obstacle and he, Shirou Emiya, Hero of Justice would conquer over it. He climbed on to the table of his father's study and reached out for the book, barely tiptoeing; he grabbed the spine of the big black book and took it out from its resting place. The book fell into his awaiting hands. Success!

He climbed down from the table with the prize in his hands, holding it close to his chest. The book was big, the hardcover was obsidian and there was no writing over the hardcover. The pages seemed old and crumpled and were unlike any of the modern books he usually came across. How thick the book was gave Shirou a smile, it meant there was a lot he was going to learn.

Exiting his father's study and closing back the door, Shirou dashed to his hideout. All superheroes needed a hideout when they were planning their exploits and he wasn't an exception. He quietly tiptoed when he was close to his father's room. Just his luck, his father was still asleep.

Shirou continued to dash outside to the shed at the far corner of the lot. His father had never gone into the old shed and Shirou never knew why, but that just meant the place was all the better to become his secret hideout. He opened the door to his shed and inside everything was already prepared. There was a mattress sprawled on the floor to sit on, some notebooks to scribble on, Shirou's stash of comic books in a box and a flashlight.

Shirou quickly went to work.

The first time Shirou entered the shed he discovered some markings on the floor that seemed to be like a circle with strange symbols inside of it. His imagination went wild. Maybe it was some kind of defense capability his father placed when they first came; maybe it was a place where a mage would stand and perform magic; maybe it was an altar to summon some spirit to do battle. Whatever it was, after some time, Shirou's excitement dampened. The circle was interesting, but it didn't seem to be doing anything at the moment, so Shirou put it aside for now.

Now the important thing was the object in his hand, the magecraft book.

Shirou scanned the book from page to page and took out his notebook to write down any important notes. He turned on his flashlight, he wouldn't dare to open the windows for sunlight, afraid somebody might find out what he was doing and there were no lamps or electricity in the old shed.

He flipped the pages of the textbook and stopped at where he left the last time; Magic Circuits Activation. He already read about the basics of magecraft like the concepts of Mana, Prana and Od, the concepts of Equivalent Exchange and also the Breathing techniques to perform magecraft. Now he actually felt ready to try and perform some magecraft, he just needed to get use to activating his magic circuits.

"Trace on"

Shirou could feel the hot-iron-rod piercing his back and into his spine. He concentrated further, weaving the magic so he could emulate what the book was teaching him.

'Come on, just a little bit more'

He was trying to focus his prana and create an artificial circuit so he could use it to perform magecraft. Every time he tried it, he could feel his whole body rise a few degrees, his brow was sweating and his hands were shaking with the amount of concentration he was trying to hold on to.

After a few moments, and Shirou has gotten used to the scorching heat his artificial circuit was making, he reached out for a box besides him. In the box was every bit of utensils and accessories. Pencils, rulers, an aluminum bottle, a pair of scissors, almost all of the things in the box was considered by his father 'junk', so instead of throwing them away, Shirou brought them over to his shed and tried practicing magic with it.

Structural Grasp.

It was one of the most basics of magecraft and one of the first forms of magecraft that Shirou has tried so far, and surprisingly succeeded in. By running small amounts of prana through an object, he could see and understand the very structure of an object from how it works to how old it is. The book says that different people will obtain different types of information concerning the object they are grasping, factors that might affect its performance includes how talented the mage is, his or her origin and elemental affinity and the concentration of the magi on the object and sympathizing with it.

Shirou crossed the first two; he wasn't a talented magus, yet, and he didn't know what his origin or elemental affinity was, so that meant he had to do things with sheer willpower. Shirou concentrated harder on the pair of scissors he had in his hand.

He could partially see some yellow lines forming in his mind. The picture wasn't perfect, but he could guess that what he was seeing is the silhouette of the scissor he had in his hand. He tried concentrating harder to get a better image.

'Come on', Shirou shouted in his mind.

The scorching heat that came with the artificial circuits he made intensified. It was blazing hot now. Shirou didn't know how much longer he could stand the pain that was stabbing his back. Just a little more he told himself. I just need to master this, and then I can move to the next part.

The pain was too much; Shirou let the spell go and deactivated his circuits.

Taking a few deep breaths, Shirou sighed at his handy work. His brow was sweating, his hands were shaking from the spell and the pain his body has been tolerating was still lingering somewhere in his back. He failed.

Out of exhaustion and disappointment Shirou threw the scissors across the floor. When will he ever get use to this simple spell? He hated feeling like he was hopeless in magecraft. If only he could, if only he could do it.

Putting his contempt aside, Shiro focused his attention back to the book that lay sprawled across the floor. He clumsily flipped through some of the pages, scanning through its context.

Some people might be wondering why he was putting so much effort on such a simple and mundane spell. To him the spell didn't seem mundane, he could think of a few things he could do with the Structural Grasp spell like repairing electrical appliances or understanding the layout of a building, surely one of the superheroes he read about had that superpower. And so would he.

In reality, the real reason why Shirou put a lot of effort in Structural Grasping was because he wanted to know his Origin and Elemental Affinity. The book said that the many methods of knowing ones Origin and Element were by Structural grasping oneself or having someone do it on you, so that you could understand your structure. However it requires great focus to be able to grasp someone's Element let alone their Origin. Shirou was hoping that if he focused himself in getting his Structural Grasp as perfect as he could he would be able to understand his own origin and element and then move on to the next step of learning thaumaturgy.

You see, just because ones a magus that doesn't mean one can learn all of the spells, it depends directly on the magus Origin and Elemental Affinity. Because magecraft essentially meant that one needed to tap into the powers of the Akashic Roots, that meant that only the type of soul or origin that person had would give him access to the powers of Akasha.

The Roots of Akasha is a very confusing subject.

Called the 'Swirl of The Root', is the force that exists at the top of all theories and dimensions. Everything is connected to Akasha via their soul or their origin because Akasha is the starting point or the 'root' of everything. With it, came the forces of Gaia and Alaya and through them came life as it is on Earth. Almost all mages consider reaching Akasha as their goal, something which Shirou doesn't share, unless it would help him become a hero.

Shirou flipped the pages and started scribbling down notes as he continued reading the black leather old book.

'There must be some other way to get this right'. Or maybe it was just him not being adept at this magecraft thing, whatever it was Shirou Emiya was stuck in his education of thaumaturgy.

Just as he sighed at the realization, the door to the shed was abruptly opened and there at the entrance was his father, Kiritsugu, with a face that showed that he was angry, no, disappointed at what he was looking at.

'Uh-Oh, busted'.

….

…Somewhere in Miyama town…

Shirou walked back towards his house in the Miyama residence area with a plastic bag full of groceries. As per his punishment he had to buy the groceries and he was grounded from watching his favorite hero-cartoons on television for the rest of the week.

Taiga was supposed to accompany him, but as always Taiga was the lazy and not-wanting-to-get-all-worked-up one suddenly left him all by himself at the shops while she went and had some 'fun'.

Taiga is the granddaughter of the family head of the yakuza group that operates in Fuyuki. Shirou meet Taiga when he and his father seeked residence in the neighborhood. Since her grandfather was the landowner it was only appropriate to meet him. With Raiga's help, his father renovated the house and turned it into the beautiful mansion it now is.

During that period, Shirou made friends with Taiga. It wasn't much of a friend-type relationship, more like a big-sister-little brother one. Even though Taiga was seven years older than Shirou, she still came back to play with him, showing him some tricks with her shinai at the dojo, and at some instances, take care of Shirou while Kiritsugu had business overseas. And in return, Kiritsugu would tutor Taiga English.

"She reminds me of a girl I once cared for", his father once told him, and to Shirou's observation Taiga does seem to just come by the Emiya residence just to meet with his father.

Whatever the reason was, Shirou appreciated the company in his house. The fact that somebody would come and play with him was heart-warming especially after the fire; it gave his home a more enjoyable feel.

He loved his 'big sister', but there were just some moments he really wished she would act more like one, she's sixteen-years-old for heaven's sake! And as far as his hero-manual would tell him, sixteen-year-olds' were supposed to be more…..mature.

As he continued his trek back home, with Taiga absent, his mind kept on darting back on the lecture his father gave him.

"_What did I told you about learning magecraft?"_

"_Tha…..That learning magecraft meant to walk on the path of death,"Shirou replied._

"_And yet you still persistently put yourself in that position and even went as far as to break into my study!" Kiritsugu's voice was filled with anger._

"_But you learned it, didn't you? And you became a hero because of it. Why can't I do it too!?"_

"_Because….. It's dangerous and you could get yourself killed!"_

Shirou was still confused with the explanation given by his father. Of course heroes were to put their life on the line and of course it was dangerous, but that was all part of the gist of being a hero: doing dangerous things so other people didn't need to.

Was it so wrong to want to help people?

He didn't know why, but there was always that empty feeling in him, an empty space in his soul that was dark and void of anything, and the only way he felt he could fill in this void was to save people or simply to put it, be a hero.

From the moment his father told him how he was saved in the fire, how his father saved him and how he was happy to save someone, Shirou always strived to reach that same feeling, he wanted to smile like his father did too. And so he put a lot of effort in realizing that dream, from watching fictional heroes on television to reading about heroic efforts done by everyday people like policemen, firefighters and soldiers. And then finally to the realization that he could actually do more, that he was just like the fictional heroes he watched on the TV, that he had untapped superpowers and that the only way to be able to save everyone was to make sure everything about his powers were understood and enhanced to the very limit.

It all made perfect sense to Shirou. Then why did his father disapprove of it? He was so confused and so angry at himself, why can't things be so simple. Why can't he show his father that being a hero wasn't that bad if he put enough effort into it?

As he reached the park in the Miyama district Shirou heard a loud cry. He rushed to the park and there he saw a boy almost the same size as him, also with red hair wearing a black long sleeve t-shirt with drak blue jeans in the middle between three teenagers who seemed liked they were three or four years older than him. They were bigger than him and the three bullies were surrounding the red-head boy.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" the red-head shouted to the bullies with all his might. In his right arm, the boy was gripping a book with a cross emblem on the front cover. He seemed really uneasy at his situation, but didn't show it. His left hand was curled into a fist as if ready to strike.

One of the bullies came to him and pushed him back; staggering the young boy and almost knocking him down onto his feet if not he didn't reacted quickly. The young boy gave a face of anger to the three bullies; he tried putting some distance from them but they just came closer.

Shirou was standing at the edge of the park, witnessing what was happening to the young boy. he curled his hands into a fist until his knuckles was almost white at the same time his left hand gripped the plastic bag that held his groceries. He was angry at what he was watching.

How in the world somebody could do this? How could someone older than him even think of picking on some kid who seemed almost harmless? He couldn't, wouldn't accept this and just stand there.

Shirou felt the rush of adrenaline. This was it. If he could save that boy from these….bullies he will prove to his father that he 'can' become a hero despite how dangerous his father always told him. If he could stand up against them he would be able to do it next time. If he could save the boy then he too can feel the happiness his father had.

Scratch that, no ifs, he WILL save the boy, he WILL stop these bullies and he WILL become a hero. Shirou rushed to the scene leaving the plastic bag on the ground.

Time to be a hero.

….

Author's notes:

Sorry for the excruciatingly long wait, I had a writer's block. The ideas were there in my head but making it into writing is a whole different challenge and for that I apologize. Now I understand why some of my favorite writers take so much time in writing a really good fic.


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